Arianne
by Railynn
Summary: Right then, Will and Elizabeth are married, but Arianne is hopelessly in love with Will, and Elizabeth has fallen for another man. Might a friend common to the trio help? FINISHED
1. Monday Morning

Arianne **************************************************************************** ****** Will and Elizabeth have married, but Will is bored, and Elizabeth's thoughts turn to another man...Will has taken on a student in swordfighting, Arianne, who is hopelessly in love with Will...might a friend common to the trio help them all? (Rated R for possibly explicit material) PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!! **************************************************************************** ****** Disclaimer--POTC is, of course, owned by Disney, but Arianne, her family, her friends, and servants, are my own, so please don't steal them! Thank you! **************************************************************************** ******  
  
Arianne woke to a beam of sunlight in her face and scowled. It was an obscenely gorgeous Monday morning, and it had taken her from the most wonderful dream of Will...*KNOCK, KNOCK* Her scowl got even deeper at the loud banging on her door, and she flung her legs off of the bed and got up to put on her dressing gown. More knocking, followed by jiggling of her doorhandle, made her glad she had learned to lock her door at night. Amos was really quite barbaric.  
Fastening her gown tightly, she went to the door and unlocked it. The second she did, however, she was thrown back by the door flinging open. Amos, her older brother, stood there, fire in his eyes. "Why did you lock the door?" he asked softly, threateningly.  
"I'm entitled to make myself decent before certain people decide to barge into my room!" she said, probably a little more angry than she should have been, for he advanced on her, his lips pursed so tight that they were very, very white. Swallowing in fright and more than a little anger, she drew herself upright and stood up to face him, determined not to show any fear, defiance sparking from her eyes.  
Suddenly, he smiled, though it was very cold and didn't soften the anger in the hard lines of his admittedly handsome face. "What's the matter, little sister? Afraid I might beat you again?" With this he raised his hand, but she didn't flinch or even back away a step. "You're too bold, girl," he growled at her, even the sadistic smile vanishing from his face. He became very ugly indeed. Instead of slapping her openhanded, however, he punched her--hard--in the gut. She didn't even have time to brace herself, so he didn't even get the chance to notice how strong her abdomen had gotten. She wasn't sure she was glad of this, as that punch had definitely hurt quite a bit. It had hurt more than when Will had slapped her across the stomach with the flat of his sword. At this thought, she suddenly remembered why she even got up in the morning. He had said yes. He had agreed to teach her how to use the sword--although it took a little bit of talking into from Jack Sparrow, the pirate. Happy warmth suffused her at the thought of these lessons, which had been taking place for the past week every other day.  
This warmth was quickly taken away, however, when Amos hauled her up roughly by her upper arms. "What were you smiling about, you little bitch?" he whispered, his face white with fury. "Did that one not hurt enough? How about some more?"  
Knowing she was in for even more punishment if she didn't beg him to stop, she just couldn't let herself do it. She wouldn't beg him to stop. She had had enough of begging. Oh how she longed to mar those pretty features with his own sword, but this was the last thought that crossed her mind as Amos began to hit her again and again in the stomach...  
  
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About when Arianne was getting beaten by her brother, Will was just waking up to Elizabeth. Sadly, he was waking up to her mumbling in her sleep to someone--he couldn't quite catch the name, but it was definitely NOT Will--about how fantastic they were. Disgusted, he climbed out of the bed. It wasn't really that she was thinking of another man and didn't want to be with him that bothered him--he didn't want to be with her anymore either--it was that she pretended she was still in love with him. He could always tell when she was lying, it was as obvious as the difference between night and day! The truth of the matter was, he was bored. The only really exciting thing about his day was when he was giving lessons to Arianne, and that was only every other day. Briefly, he thought about how Jack had talked him into taking her on, and wondered just what had happened to make Jack LIKE the girl so much. Or how they had met, for that matter. So far, Arianne hadn't said much at all to him except her name and how much she wished to learn the sword. Ah well, he'd get more out of her soon. After all, it had only been a week.  
Elizabeth mumbled and moaned some more, and a wave of disgust made him curl his lip and wrinkle his nose at her as she slept. Really, he couldn't handle much more of this. It was making him quite ill. Sighing profoundly, he went down to the blacksmith's shop and wished that today were tomorrow, so he could at least have a lesson with Arianne. Really, she was quite lovely, he thought as he dressed and made his way down to the shop.  
  
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Arianne lay in a heap on the floor, trying not to sob and make her very bruised abdomen hurt any more than it already did. She didn't know how long Amos had hit her, but it had seemed like a very, very long time. Before leaving, he had made her day even worse.  
  
"Your father has finally found a suitor for you, dear sister," Amos had told her, an ugly sneer on his face. "Of course, Father hasn't told him about your consorting with the infamous Jack Sparrow and running around the docks wearing men's clothing. I fear that would drive everyone away. Except maybe that Will Turner, but he's already married, now, isn't he? You're a disgrace to this family's good name, and it will be wonderful to finally get rid of you, you little whore."  
"I'm a disgrace?" she'd whispered around the pain, and before she could stop herself, she was screaming, "I'M the disgrace?! What of you, you sadistic bastard?! What of you?! You've beaten me since I was six years old! And that's saying nothing of any medium-sized animal that you--" and he had gone white with fury again and had kicked her nigh until senselessness.  
Before he left, he had said joyfully, "You'll be meeting your suitor today, whore. I suggest you dress accordingly--" he had dropped a dress box on the floor, "--and make no mention or even a whimper of what transpired in here this morning. Don't think anyone that matters heard you. Father is out and Mother wouldn't dare defend you, she knows you're a disgrace as well. I also suggest that you pull yourself together so that wretched maid can help you dress." With this, he turned smartly, his cape flowing behind him, and she watched his perfect boots saunter out of the room and slam the door closed.  
  
Now, she made herself stand up--and stand up straight--and she picked up the dress box, not really caring what was in it. She rang the bell, and almost immediately, Katie, the maid, entered her room, shutting the door behind her. "Yes, madam,"she said obediently, taking the dress box from Arianne's hands. Setting it down, Katie immediately went to work getting the petticoats and corset ready. Inwardly groaning, knowing how much that corset was going to hurt her already abused abdomen and ribs, and obediently took off her robe and nightgown, waiting for the torture to begin. Katie gasped as she caught sight of her mistress' state, but wisely said nothing--one never knew whether Amos was listening in or not--and immediately began to help Arianne dress. When the time came for the corset, Katie made to make it a little bit loose, but Arianne declined this small mercy.  
"Katie, dear, make it tighter. The dress won't allow for anything lower than the tightest you can make it," she said aloud, not if she knew her father and brother. Katie looked as though she was about to protest, but Arianne held up her hand and grimly said, "Tighter." Katie obeyed, though it seemed to have pained her to do so. If she only knew the half of it, Arianne thought, fighting tears as the corset was pulled as tight as it would go without completely cutting off her air. Oh the bruises hurt, they hurt so much...but she didn't make a peep. Briefly she wondered if she should even go on her daily walk, it hurt so badly, and at this thought, the brilliant light of an idea popped into her mind. As the outer parts of the dress were put on her, she began to plan...  
  
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	2. Jack Returns

Again, I don't own POTC, but I DO own Arianne, her family, thier servants, her friends, etc. etc. **************************************************************************** ****** Also, I did my best to make Jack as in character as I could, I'm terribly sorry if I mangled him! **************************************************************************** ****** Chapter Two: Jack Returns  
  
The ship known throughout the Caribbean islands as the Black Pearl pulled into harbor through the skillful hands of Jack Sparrow. And his crew, he added as an afterthought. His thoughts turned from the perfect anchoring and his own slight egotism to the prospect of meeting up with his old friends Will and Elizabeth Turner. Maybe Arianne would even drop by again. Such a charming girl, in spite of the fact that she ran about the docks in men's clothing and had pestered him until he had let her tour the ship. Well alright, so she hadn't really PESTERED him...it didn't take much for him to show off his wonderful ship. Hell, even someone that so much as glanced his way was likely to be invited aboard for a tour. Of course, most people refused, being goodly folk and not wishing to consort with pirates. A smile spread across his face.  
"Alright, mateys! Ye all guard me ship wi' yer lives 'til I return, righ'?" he shouted to his band of pirates.  
"Aye aye, captain!" they all replied heartily, still going about their tasks.  
Jack, knowing his ship would be just fine--who would threaten it?-- left the ship and went into the city, heading for the blacksmith's shop to visit an old friend.  
  
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Will sighed, unable to find the solace he usually did in his work, and put down the piece he was working on. Really, he had nothing to worry about, he was already finished with all his commissions and had plenty of things on hand for any spur of the moment buyers. Again, he found himself fervently wishing it was tomorrow. Arianne was surprisingly adept with the blade for one who had never really handled one and had only been doing it for about 3 days. She was a fast learner, he had come to learn, and quickly! One past the age of 6 usually didn't pick up the sword so quickly, and then after that age, they could only go so far before they were unable to achieve anything greater. Will had a feeling that this Arianne would go further--and faster--than any of these, and soon would be quite a good swordswoman with a year or two of training. The only problem was, she'd only get to use that training if she became a pirate. She seemed to enjoy it so much, though, he thought. She also seemed somewhat desperate to learn the art. He wondered just what it was that she needed to protect herself from.  
A strong surge of some emotion flooded through him at this thought. Why should she have to protect herself? Did she not have a father and brother to protect her from any harm? Thinking on this, he didn't hear the doors of his shop open.  
"Well, 'ello ol' chum!" said a familiar voice cheerfully.  
  
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Arianne, meanwhile, had at last gotten into her dress. She had to admit, it was really quite beautiful, she just wished she didn't have to wear it under these circumstances. The bodice (and she had been right about how tight the corset needed to be), clung to her and dipped low across her breasts, revealing cleavage and almost (but not quite, thank God!) her nipples. The skirts flowed, and she was exceedingly grateful that she didn't have to wear the hoop under these. Talk about a pain sitting down...the corset was torture enough, especially for her abused body. The dress was a gorgeous deep blue that brought out her own blue eyes, and Katie had twisted and curled and braided her hair up into a gorgeous concoction, leaving two silky golden curls hanging to fram her face. Only a touch of rouge pinkened her fair cheeks slightly, and a little carmine for her lips to enhance their fullness.  
She took a deep breath--and, of course, regretted it immediately--to steel herself for breakfast and the confrontation she was likely to have with her brother about her morning walk. It happened every morning, and every morning she was allowed to go, as long as she was dressed decently by their standards. She opened her door and walked slowly downstairs, her shoes only making the slightest whisper of sound on the rich red carpet. As she entered the dining room, one thing immediately registered: Amos wasn't there. She sat across from her mother and allowed herself to be served a bowl of oatmeal with berries, sugar, and cream on it, just the way she liked it. She allowed herself the small feeling of pleasure at having her favorite breakfast.  
"Mother," she queried quietly, "where is Amos? Is he not still here?"  
"Amos is out escorting his betrothed on a walk through the gardens, dearest," her mother said, with a small smile of relief. Arianne smiled back. It was such a relief that he was out. She dipped her spoon into her oatmeal and stirred it up, and she and her mother finished eating in silence.  
When they were through, Arianne asked, "Mother, might it be alright if I went for my morning walk? Before the suitor Father has picked arrives?" She knew there was a touch of pleading in her voice, but she couldn't help it.  
"Only if you stay away from the docks, Arianne. I'll not have you dirtying up that gorgeous gown. You know how it would infuriate him," her mother said, mildly reproving and warning at the same time. By the tone of her voice when she had said "him," Arianne knew precisely who her mother was talking about.  
"Yes, Mother," she said, smiling and nodding to show she understood, then asked to be excused and stood up to leave, grabbing her parasol before she left the house, barely containing her joy at the first stage of her plan being carried out to perfection.  
  
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"So, 'ow's the marriage goin'?" Jack asked Will. In spite of Jack's somewhat drunken way of acting, he noticed the grimace that crossed Will's face, if it only lasted for a split second.  
"Oh...it's not too bad, I suppose," Will replied. Seeing the look on Jack's face, he then said, "Well, ok, so it's not going very well. Elizabeth has fallen out of love with me, and can't stop thinking about-- and dreaming about--someone else. Ok, and I'm bored. She changed, Jack. She changed from the woman I used to know into someone that's...well, not really there. The worst part is, she still pretends she loves me." Will sighed in exasperation.  
"Ahhh," Jack replied. "An' 'ow about the lass ye're teachin'? How goes that, eh? Quite the lovely little lass, isn't she?" he said with a knowing smile.  
Will blushed, and was furious with himself for doing it. Why did Jack get to him like that? Really, sure, she was beautiful enough, but he didn't have feelings for her. "The lessons go well, actually. She's a really fast learner, you wouldn't believe she's only been having lessons every other day for the past week."  
Jack noticed the admiration in Will's voice, and also noticed how Will seemed to talk of her with some reverence, even if he didn't know it himself. Jack leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin. Yes, indeed, the plan was going well...but what of the next step? 


	3. Unexpected Meeting

I don't own POTC, yadda yadda yadda, you know the story.  
  
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Chapter Three: Unexpected Meeting  
  
Arianne nodded and smiled coquettishly at the young man who had tipped his hat to her. It was really quite hot out here, though, she thought to herself. She really didn't understand how everyone could wear all these clothes and not die of the heat! Trying to keep to the shade, she walked along, trying to get a clear view of the harbor to see if the Black Pearl had returned yet. Jack had said that he would be back fairly shortly, but who knew what he meant? The man seemed drunken most of the time, what with that odd walk he had and his strange personality. Her thoughts were interrupted by a jab of pain from the bruises under her corset, but she covered her expression slip almost immediately. Luckily, there was no one around her. She shuddered to think of how many spies Amos had in his friends and briefly wondered if that young man had been one of them...but her musings came to an abrupt halt as a familiar mast came into view.   
  
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"Well, boyo, I better be off. Places to go, people to see, eh?" Jack said with a wink as he stood up.   
  
Will stood up as well. "I'll go with you, if you don't mind, Jack. The work day hasn't even really started yet."  
  
"Well a'right then, ye can come with me! Where is that lovely wife o' yours anyway?" Jack inquired.  
  
"In bed, dreaming, no doubt," Will scowled.  
  
"Ah. Righ' then, off we go!" Jack started off, his drunken swagger making an odd contrast to Will's smooth flowing gait. They left the blacksmith shop in a high humor, Jack occasionally singing snatches of "A Pirate's Life for Me."  
  
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Barely able to conceal her joy, she pasted a demure smile upon her face, and made her way back towards the middle of town, twirling her parasol gaily. As she turned a corner, she barely stopped in time to avoid walking right into Amos and his group of friends. Amos stopped mid-sentence as he caught sight of her. Arianne curtsied prettily, dropping her eyes to the ground as she did so, and made a move to walk on. Amos took her arm in what seemed like a gentlemanly fashion and led her away from the group, but his grip was iron, and behind his sweet brotherly smile, he was gritting his teeth.   
  
"Arianne, darling, what are you doing out today? Don't you have a meeting this afternoon with your hopeful soon-to-be husband?" Amos said in a sugary voice.  
  
"Why yes, Amos, I do, but it is customary for me to take a morning walk, and Mother said it was fine that I do so, providing that I remain away from the docks and I'm back before the appointed time," she replied, voice dripping with honey sweetness. "Mother told me you were walking with your betrothed, dear brother, but unless I am mistaken, none of these are her. Unless she's just as disgraceful as I am, of course. Not to mention incredibly ugly." She threw a smile over her shoulder at the waiting group of men and they smiled in return, the widest of smiles being that of the one who had tipped his hat to her not ten minutes ago.  
  
Amos tightened his grip on her arm, and she almost gasped at the sharp pain that flashed through the bruises he had left when he had hauled her to her feet earlier that morning. As it was, he saw the pain in her eyes and relaxed his grip, a genuine smile of pleasure on his face at her sign of weakness. "Just remember, girl," he whispered, his tone now once more that of anger and disgust, "just remember who is in charge, here, right? And remember I can hurt you even worse than I did this morning."  
  
She glared at him. "Oh indeed, dearest brother. That is your belief, so it must be correct, must it not? Oh I understand you perfectly," she growled at him, her expression still placid.  
  
"Oi! Miss Bailey!" called out a heavily accented voice. Turning her head, she saw who it was, and delight suffused her features.  
  
"Mister Sparrow!" she called out, throwing a meaningful glance to the hand that still gripped her arm. Amos let go, returning to his friends with disgust visible in the curl of his lip. Relieved beyond telling, she hurried over to Jack and his companion,--her heart jumped--Will Turner.  
  
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Will saw them first. Arianne and her brother, Amos. Their faces were pleasant, but by the lines of tension in their bodies--Arianne's specifically--he could tell something was going on. Nudging Jack, he pointed them out.   
  
"Well, what's goin' on 'ere, then?" Jack whispered before shouting, "Oi! Miss Bailey!"   
  
A smile lit up Arianne's features as she called back, "Mister Sparrow!" She glanced down at Amos' hand still on her arm--neither Will nor Jack missed this--and he let go, and returned to his friends, what could only be anger stiffening his stride.   
  
Arianne hurried over, and Will couldn't help but notice her beauty. He had never seen her up close wearing anything but men's clothing, and he had to admit she was absolutely gorgeous. Her big blue eyes, her golden hair, half her breasts...Shaking his head to clear the fog and to take his gaze away from her chest, he looked up.  
  
"Mister Turner," she said courteously, curtsying to him, lowering her long lashes.   
  
"Miss Bailey," he returned, removing his hat from his head in a flourish and holding out his right hand to her. She placed her own in his and he lightly kissed it before releasing it--but not before he noticed that calluses were starting to form on her hand from the sword practices. He couldn't say why, but he found this immensely attractive. Also, the bow allowed him to look at her breasts again--they were nearly falling out!--and he closed his eyes, wondering where these feelings were coming from all of a sudden. He was married, after all, he shouldn't be thinking things like this! Although a certain party in the marriage apparently already was, he thought wryly.   
  
Rising from his bow, he saw that her cheeks had turned a pretty crimson, and wondered why that could be.   
  
Jack, of course, noticed all, from Will's astonishment at the sight of her to his wandering eyes to Arianne's blush at the kiss on her hand. Smiling, he began to stroke his bearded chin again. As Arianne arose, she looked longingly at Will--who had looked elsewhere, and so missed this glance--for no more than a second before turning to Jack, the smile appearing on her face once more.   
  
"How good it is to see you again, Jack!" she said delightedly. "I wasn't expecting you back in harbor so early!"  
  
"What, a pirate of me stature goin' agains' 'is word? Nonsense! I told ye I'd be back soon, and here I am! Visiting with old friends!" With this he clapped an arm around Will's shoulder, and Will, looking somewhat startled, smiled rather dazedly at him.  
  
"I can't thank you enough for convincing Mister Turner here to teach me, Jack, I don't know what I would do with my afternoons without the lessons," she said, still smiling.  
  
"Ah, yes, so ye're enjoying the lessons, eh? Good to hear! What say ye both to a walk to me ship?" Jack asked, devious to the end.  
  
Arianne's face fell. "I-I'm sorry, I can't, Jack, I have to meet what will probably be my future husband soon."   
  
At this, Will was somewhat startled. Future husband? Surely she couldn't be old enough--at that he stopped himself. Of course she was old enough. She was 17 now, she was more than old enough. It was amazing she hadn't been married off already. Then he remembered that she liked hanging about the docks in oversized shirts and old patched up pants. Sighing, he wished he had met her before he decided to tell Elizabeth that he loved her at Jack's would-be hanging. What HAD he been thinking? Ah well, the past is gone and there's no going back.   
  
When he finally came back to the present, Arianne was gone and Jack was staring at him, an eyebrow raised in question.   
  
"What now?" Will asked, somewhat confused.  
  
"Well, will ye be there or not?"  
  
"Be where?" He was more confused than ever now.  
  
"At me ship! At 7 o'clock tonight! I swear ye're incredibly dimwitted, 'tis a wonder we got me ship back at all, really," Jack said, his voice full of amusement.   
  
"Oh, oh yes, I'll be there."  
  
"Hadn't ye better be gettin' back to yer shop, boyo?"  
  
"Yes, yes indeed!" Will was so embarrassed, he was late for work. "See you later, Jack!" he called as he hurried back to the blacksmith's shop.   
  
  
  
Jack's smile widened even more as he watched Will go off. Will probably didn't even realize that Arianne was going to be there. She had whispered that she could probably get away in the evening and had bid her farewells to Jack and Will, throwing Will an odd look when he didn't respond, and had walked off, presumably to her home. Yes, Jack thought. Yes, this was going quite well indeed.  
  
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Alrighty then! I know I've posted a lot in the past couple days, but it may not always be that way! I switch houses every other week and writer's block will no doubt set in, but I'll try to upload regularly until I get a new job!  
  
Also, thanks very much to my 2 reviewers! ^.^ 


	4. Arianne's Escape

Right, you know my characters, that I don't own POTC, etc. etc.  
  
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Argh, this is what I get for leaving the story for a few days!...I'm sorry if it's a little different than the other chapters!  
  
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Chapter 4: Arianne's Escape  
  
On her way back home, Arianne tried to think of how she could make it out of her house without anyone noticing. She came up with nothing. Sighing in exasperation, she finally came back to her home, and entered. Looking furtively about, she discovered that Amos was nowhere in sight. Thanking God for the miracle, she made her way to the parlor to read some before the dreaded meeting. However, just as she was opening her book in her favorite chair, her father entered the room.  
  
"Ah, Arianne," he said, in a highly good mood. "You know you're to meet him this afternoon, then?"  
  
"I'm to meet whom, Father?" she asked innocently.  
  
Irritation settled in her father's features. "I thought Amos had told you. He gave you the dress, I see," Her father said thoughtfully. "Ah well, it doesn't matter," he said, happiness lighting his face again. "I've found someone who has agreed to meet you, and if he likes what he sees--" and her father's sudden expression said that he had BETTER like what he saw, "--he'll marry you! Of course, he knows nothing of your running about the docks and such, consorting with pirates, wearing men's clothing...but what he doesn't know can't hurt him. He'll be here any minute now, Arianne, I suggest you put that wretched book about pirates away...and be on your best behavior!" Excited, he left the room humming to himself.  
  
Arianne rolled her eyes, sighing, and opened the book anyway, intending to read until her "future husband" arrived. She began to read a new chapter in the book about Captian Blackthorn the pirate (completely fictional, of course, but what did that matter? It was exciting!), and was soon totally engrossed in the story.  
  
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Will, back at the blacksmith's shop, sat staring off into space. For some reason, he couldn't seem to get the image of Arianne out of his mind. Soon enough, he found himself fantasizing about her, what it would be like to be married to her...but then he caught himself. He was already married. And besides, she was likely to be married off shortly anyway, perhaps within the month! Then a thought struck him: she probably thought of him as no more than a sword instructor and the local blacksmith. Hell, she was likely more interested in Jack than she was in him. Jack was the most famous pirate in these waters, Jack had had tons of adventures (regaining the Black Pearl and breaking its curse only one of the most recent), and Will had only had one adventure, really. Suddenly, he felt a dislike for Jack.  
  
He groaned inwardly. He really needed to get his mind off of Arianne. What if a customer came in and found him mooning about the shop like a lovesick puppy? Shaking his head, he wondered what Jack wanted to talk about this evening that he had to meet him at the ship. It was a little odd--sure, Jack was proud of his ship, but he only asked Will to meet him there when he had something important to talk about that he'd prefer the townsfolk not hear. He could come up with nothing, and with a longsuffering sigh, he went to work on a blade, doing his best not to think of Arianne's big eyes, amongst other aspects.  
  
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A loud knocking brought her out of the world of pirates and the sea, and she suddenly felt panicked. Putting the book away, she frantically tried to figure a way to get out of the house this evening before supper. Suddenly, pain jabbed her again from her nearly forgotten bruises and the panic dissipated slightly. Not much, but slightly. Hearing her father speaking to someone in the front hall and approaching the parlor, she composed her features--though inwardly she was still roiling--and sat back down in the chair. The dreaded meeting was finally about to begin.  
  
"Yes, yes, she should be right in here, Sir James. A delightful girl, I tell you..." she heard her father say just as he rounded the corner and entered the room with someone following close behind. Hearing the name "Sir James," she wondered if this were the one she thought it was, desperately hoping it was not.   
  
Her hopes were shattered.  
  
The man that entered the room after her father was not only older than her, but he was OLD! He could have been her great grandfather! It was no wonder he knew nothing about her, he hadn't been out of his house in years that she knew of. Would she be expected to..."perform"...with him? Disgusted at that thought, she carefully kept her devastation hidden behind a pleasant smile on her lips. Standing up, she curtsied low to Sir James, the Sir James she had feared it was, and more pain stabbed through her ribs.  
  
Sir James held out his hand to her, and she took it, dreading feeling those old wrinkled lips on her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Bailey," he said, and bent over her hand and kissed it. Not only were his lips wrinkled, they felt like a dried snakeskin.  
  
Repressing a shudder, Arianne replied, "The honor is mine, Sir James." Even more urgently, she tried to think of a way to get out. Not only before supper, but NOW.   
  
The greeting finished, her father and Sir James sat down to discuss the terms of her dowry and such. She saw her chance. Murmuring apologies and the excuse of needing to freshen up in the bathroom, she left the parlor and hurried up to her own rooms. Thankfully, Amos was still nowhere in sight. As she locked herself inside her bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief. More likely than not, her father and Sir James wouldn't even miss her for at least an hour.   
  
She rummaged through her wardrobe, and at last found the old, tattered pairs of pants and the oversized shirts she saved for roaming the docks. Wanting to remove the dress and the thrice-damned corset, she searched her small suite of rooms--bedroom, bathroom, and small sitting room--, but she couldn't find Katie anywhere, and didn't dare risk calling her. Sighing in frustration, she stuffed the shirts and pants--grabbing a few undergarments just to be safe--into a sewing bag. Another of those irritating things her father wanted her to learn...sewing was such a bore! Rarely did she keep any sewing projects in the bag. Needles and a bit of black or brown thread she did keep though. If her pants or shirt tore, she could repair them. About the only thing sewing was good for, in her opinion.  
  
Now that she had a few supplies with her, she had to figure a way of escape. She couldn't just waltz out the front door, or the back door, for that matter...even the servant's passage was off limits. About the only way she could get out would be through the window...she walked over to it and looked out, cursing being on the second floor. It was going to be hard to get out that way, but she had no other option.   
  
Using a trick she had learned in one of her books, she started knotting sheets together securely.   
  
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As Arianne was tying her sheets in knots, Jack was to wandering around town. Seeing Arianne's brother alone and walking purposefully, a scowl on his face, Jack followed him, wondering where he would take him.  
  
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Finally getting enough tied together for a good and sturdy rope, Arianne tied one end securely to a bed post, and draped the rest out of the window. She grimaced in dismay, knowing how hard this was going to be on her. Not only a dress and a corset, but bruised ribs on top of it. Looking down at the ground to make sure no one was about, she then inched herself out the window and started to make her way down the makeshift rope.  
  
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Alrighty, another chapter finished, and no doubt more to come! Thanks so much to my reviewers, again! I really appreciate it! 


	5. Amos!

Ok, say it with me now..."I do not own POTC, Disney does. I own Arianne, her family, etc. etc." Goooooooooooood!  
  
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Ok, a little of Elizabeth in this chapter...Hopefully none of you have any fond feelings for her!  
  
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Chapter 5: Amos!!!!!  
  
Holding tightly to her sheet rope, Arianne looked down and wondered just why she was doing this. Now that she thought about it, it was really quite stupid. If she could have, she'd have climbed right back up that rope--she wasn't very far down, only a foot or so from her windowsill. Sadly, however, she couldn't climb a rope to save her life. And that's just what was going to happen, she thought. She was going to fall to her death because she couldn't climb a rope. So, having nowhere else to go, and feeling a bit dizzy (was that from hanging far above the ground or because she couldn't draw a deep breath?), she started to inch her way downward slowly.  
  
For one heartstopping moment, she slid. Luckily, her feet came up against one of the knots, effectively stopping her. Clinging even more tightly to the rope, her face the color of ash, heart beating wildly out of control, breath coming in shallow gasps, she hung there for a moment. After her heart had calmed down a little, she looked down, seeing that she wasn't all that far off the ground--maybe 8 feet--she relaxed a little more, but it was with much reluctance that she slid her feet off of the safety of the knot (relative safety, anyway, her mind screamed at her, what if the knots weren't tight enough? What if it ripped or something?) and started going downward once more.   
  
Finally, what seemed like hours later (but in actuality had only been about fifteen minutes), her feet touched the bottom. Breathing in relief, she ran as well as she could in the dress and with her breath coming so shortly around the back of the house, deciding she would make her way down to the docks and beg to be let aboard the Black Pearl. She slipped behind the cover of some bushes and painfully moved down a few more houses before checking the road and then coming out of cover.   
  
Thankfully, most of the men were at work, and as she was not in the business district, she really didn't have to worry too much about any of them seeing her. She had a brief flash of panic about the women, but then realized they would probably put her disheveled appearance down to her eccentricity and boyishness and think nothing else of it until they were asked if they had seen Arianne, and which way did she go?  
  
Swallowing nervously, she nonetheless tried to keep a placid expression on her face and her pace to a purposeful stroll. She knew she was in some trouble, though, the dizziness had yet to leave, and her bruises were stabbing sharper than ever, making her breaths sharp as well as shallow. She needed to rest, but knew she couldn't, and so struggled onward without noticeable faltering.   
  
Halfway there, her sewing bag seemed to weigh a good fifty pounds, but she did not drop it. Now a few people were passing her by, a few giving her the occasional odd look, but most ignoring her completely. Later, if asked, those people probably wouldn't even remember seeing her. Trying to get a good breath of air into her lungs and failing, she decided she could probably risk a small rest on one of the benches, and sat down, her face now red with heat and lack of air. Dear God, she begged, please please please don't let Amos find me. Please.   
  
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Amos kept walking purposefully on, Jack following a safe distance behind. He need not have worried, however, as Amos was thoroughly involved in his own dark and sadistic thoughts and too busy to even bother noticing something as simple as that "feeling" one gets when being followed. It was odd, though, how he kept turning every so often, then coming eventually back to the same street he had been walking along in the first place. Jack was beginning to find Amos' behavior very peculiar indeed, and wondered if he did this simply to throw people of track or out of sheer absentmindedness. Naturally, people had been throwing him odd--and occasionally hostile--looks as they passed him by, some of the more foolish ones not knowing who he was thinking he was simply an unkempt drunk out to wander the streets. Jack, of course, smiled broadly at and occasionally bowed slightly to the folks that looked at him, enjoying how their facial expressions turned from mild annoyance to utter disgust.   
  
But he never lost track of Amos.  
  
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Earlier that morning, as Arianne, Jack, and Will had stood talking, Elizabeth woke up from the most delicious dream, nearly purring with satisfaction, much as a cat might do after lapping up all the cream. She wasn't surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. Will tended to leave early and come home late. Not that she was terribly disappointed about this, of course, she preferred not seeing him longer than an hour or two a day. It was better than putting on the facade that she still loved him. Well, she DID still love him...just not the way she had before. She still loved him as her childhood friend. It was just that her lust and more wifely love for him had gone winging one morning with the dawn and had yet to decide to come back. She really didn't mind, but ofttimes she wondered if Will knew. He knew her very well, of course, and could almost always tell when she was lying, but she couldn't bring herself to just say, "I don't want to be married to you anymore, Will, I want someone else."  
  
Of course, she didn't want to hurt him. What if he was still in love with her? Although, she had to admit, he hadn't asked for sex in a good three months. Which was fine with her, he didn't quite live up to the man in her dreams. If Will WAS still in love with her...what would he think if she told him who she truly wanted? Even if he wasn't in love with her anymore, what would he think? Not that it really mattered, she hoped to leave Will for him one day, even fantasized that her dream man would come and take her away for good.   
  
Thinking of this fantasy, she smiled dreamily. Oh how she hoped it would happen. As the clock struck ten, she realized that she really did have to get out of bed and start getting ready. She was holding a luncheon here today. She walked over to the window and looked out at the absolutely gorgeous day Monday was turning out to be, and then rang for her maid.  
  
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As Arianne finally got a bit of energy back and the buzz of dizziness had receded somewhat, she got up and moved on once more, making sure to bring her sewing bag with her. It now seemed to weigh only twenty-five pounds, thank the good Lord above. Now in the business district of town, she tried to look more dignified, and still walked purposefully, pretending not to see anyone she passed by. Seeing the mast of the largest ship in the harbor, hope filled her. Almost there. She had made it!  
  
Then Amos turned the corner just ahead of her. Her hopes went up in smoke. Seeing her, he narrowed his eyes. She couldn't pretend she had missed him now, he had seen the expression of recognition and fear on her face, though she had hidden it as quickly as it had come. Her heart began to beat as a bird will beat the bars of its cage, erratically. Her breathing became shallow again, and the buzzing of dizziness once more came to the fore. She stood stock still, staring at him coldly in spite of the fear and nearness to fainting she felt. 


	6. Merciful Oblivion

Yeah yeah, you know the story... *********************************************************************** Alrighty, yeah, Jack is kinda out of character...now that I think about it, his language is fairly decent for a pirate, he doesn't cut words all that often...Thank you very much, Time Bomb 87! And thanks again to the readers that have reviewed, I very much appreciate it!!!!! ***********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 6: Merciful Oblivion  
  
"Jack Sparrow!" a woman called out to Jack, bearing down on him, and he groaned, recognizing her. Mentally smacking himself for whatever it was he had done, he nonetheless conjured up a charming smile.  
"Why, Eloise! How lovely it is to see you darling!" When she slapped him, it came as no surprise. In fact, the slapping seemed to happen in every town he stopped in...he wondered why. Then, remembering what he had been doing in the first place, he looked around anxiously, unceremoniously shoving Eloise out of the way. "Damn, woman! You made me lose him!" he scoffed at her with a scowl on his face. Then he ran to find Amos, hoping he hadn't taken any complicated turns.  
  
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Amos' eyes glittered with what was most likely a joyful fury. He knew she was supposed to be at home. And from the look of her, their father didn't know she had escaped, either. His twisted and sadistic mind roiled and he imagined the most wonderful beating he would give her...  
  
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"...Oh dear, what on earth is that girl up to?" queried Mr. Bailey around the time Jack became waylaid. Approximately 45 minutes after Arianne's escape.  
Sir James just smiled and said, "Oh, no doubt she's just a bit nervous about being married soon. So, about this..."  
Their planning continued on, neither having the slightest clue that Arianne was nowhere near the house, nor was she nervous about the wedding...  
  
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No, Arianne had something much more important on her mind now than a wedding to some old codger. She stared at Amos, almost seeing the wheels in his mind turning. What seemed like years passed by as they stared at each other (which was in actuality only a few seconds) before Amos finally smiled that terrifying sugary smile that no one but her ever seemed to see for what it really meant. She was fighting hard to keep a straight face, frantically trying to find a way to escape. He knew she wasn't out on any errand, he KNEW.  
As Amos finally walked towards her, that smile pasted on his face and his eyes dancing with pleasure, a familiar mindless fear took over her. Her eyes widened, finally showing the fear she felt, and in her mind, she saw past beatings clearly, from the first one all the way to this morning's.  
He took her arm in a seemingly brotherly fashion, and dragged her over to a deep dead-end alley. She tried to struggle, but he tightened his grip so much it hurt, and she tried to get away all the more, but he was too strong. Tears slid down her cheeks unbidden as she was dragged into the alley, but she knew that to make noise was to ensure even more torture.  
  
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If Will had stepped outside for a moment, he would have seen Arianne being dragged into the dead-end alley between his shop and the other shop that did horseshoes. But he didn't, so he missed it. Instead, he was sitting in the chair his former master occupied nearly constantly in a drunken stupor. Of course, he was thinking of her. He wondered if maybe he should have taken a bit more notice of her, in fact. Maybe then she would want him instead of Jack. This conviction had become more and more set in his mind since he first started thinking it, and he just knew it to be truth. She loved Jack Sparrow. It wasn't that he loved Arianne. He just suddenly seemed to be thinking of her constantly when a couple days ago she may have crossed his mind once or twice and then vanished like a wisp of smoke.  
He sighed. He was never going to get any work done today. Knowing this, he decided to put out the fires of the forge and take a day of vacation. Yes, a day of vacation. It had been a while since he'd had one. He had been all too anxious to get out of the house before Elizabeth woke up for the past few months, and the only place he really had to go was to work. So, he went about putting out the fires and quieting the shop.  
Realizing he didn't have anything else to do, he sat back in the chair again in relative darkness, watching beams of sunlight come in through the single window set high enough in the wall that the only way he could look out of it would be to climb up into the rafters where he and Jack had fought about a year or so ago.  
  
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Her fear intensified when he threw her up against the back wall of the alley. Dark spots swam before her eyes and the dizzy buzzing crescendoed again. He didn't even have to speak. They both knew that. So, instead of making her wait for him to come after her as he usually did, he went straight in, hitting her as hard as he could about the ribs and stomach, knowing this would hurt her more than anything else he did.  
  
Oh God, she begged silently, Oh dear sweet Lord, why did You let him find me? ran over and over and over in her head. She wanted to scream, this hurt so badly. Oh God it hurt! A sob escaped her, enraging Amos even more.  
  
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Jack ran right by the alley, still in search of Amos. Knowing that he couldn't have gone very far, he ran a little more, and then turned around to backtrack.  
  
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He slapped her across the face. She fell to the ground and raised a hand to her cheek, tears flowing more than ever now. She looked up at him with wet eyes, her vision of him obscured by those ominous black dots. He went back to beating her senseless, this time using those perfect boots. Those very heavy boots that hurt incredibly. Luckily for her, he was aiming more along her stomach and legs rather than her ribs. Had he hit them, they most likely would have shattered. This was a small mercy, however. She almost wished he would cave in her ribs, so they would puncture her lungs and kill her. Death would be wonderful. Sobs now racked her body regularly, and occasionally, she would make more noise than he liked. He would begin anew with even harder kicks, the occasional smack of his fist.  
At last, she could handle no more in silence. Pain was her entire world. She couldn't even see anymore, the black dots had all come together to bind her in darkness. She tried to scream the first time and couldn't, she didn't get quite enough air. The corset had somehow seemed to tighten around her even more, she could hardly breathe. She let out instead a breathy sort of squeaking. The sobs kept coming and she made what little noise she could, hoping and praying someone--anyone--would hear her.  
  
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Will, in the new silence of his shop, began to hear odd noises drifting in through the window. He couldn't quite make out what they were. Wondering if it was some animal hurting, he picked up a hammer, opened the door and went outside, walking towards the alley.  
  
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Jack, also hearing these noises, but realizing they were that of a human being, he followed the noise to the alley, forgetting about finding Amos and instead wishing to help whomever it was in there that was in such torture. Seeing Will, he motioned him to silence. Will nodded, and they moved into the alleyway silently. Jack, seeing that Will had a hammer, mentally smacked himself for what seemed like the millionth time today and drew a dagger as silently as he could.  
Moving deeper into the dark alley, they saw a shape that appeared to be kicking away at another shape, from which the pitiful noises were coming. The prone shape tried to curl into a ball, but the kicking one wouldn't let it.  
Coming up right behind the person, Jack grabbed him and held the dagger to the man's neck. "Make another move and ye'll have another hole to breathe out of," he said menacingly. The man growled like an animal and pulled away, turning to face Jack, Will had moved to the side. It was Amos, Jack saw. Jack blinked somewhat in surprise.  
Amos tensed, ready to rush Jack and likely kill him, Jack thought bemusedly. Before he got the chance, however, Will knocked him on the back of the head with the hammer. A feral grimace still on Amos' face, he fell over and lay face-down on the ground.  
  
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Arianne didn't even notice that the beating had finally stopped. She was on a level where she could feel nothing but pain. Finally, a merciful oblivion took her into its embrace, and she knew no more.  
  
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	7. Do You Promise?

We all know what comes here...I believe it has something to do with Disney and my OCs... ***********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 7: Do You Promise?  
  
Will moved immediately to the prone woman--and he saw it was a woman, her dress was all rumpled around her, he couldn't tell what color it was, however, in the dim light. She had stopped moving. He knelt and moved her hair away--was it golden?--to feel for a pulse in her neck. He felt one. It was very slow, but steady nonetheless.  
"Jack, I'm going to take her into the shop," he said, gathering her carefully into his arms. She didn't stir.  
"Right. I'll drag Arianne's brother here in there too...maybe we can tie 'im up or something," Jack said and proceeded to drag Amos behind him.  
Will nodded. Looking back down at the woman as he got into better light, his eyes widened. Oh dear God, he thought. Her face was bruised and bleeding some, but he still recognized her. It was Arianne. There was also a dark wetness on her dress. He dreaded finding out what it was. Hurriedly, he brought her inside, then, propping her a bit precariously on a chair, he grabbed some blankets and laid them out on the ground. After laying her on them, he filled a bucket with some water, grabbed a clean cloth, and returned to her.  
Tears filled his eyes as he looked at her. It was no wonder she seemed so grimly desperate to learn the art of the sword. Gently, he began to clean away the blood on her face.  
  
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Jack was having a bit of trouble. Amos was quite heavy, the bastard. As Jack dragged him out into plain sight, a few folks stopped and looked at him, horrorstruck. Jack just shrugged and said, "Found 'im like this in the alley!" Of course, there were several disbelieving looks, and Jack expected that he would have officials breathing down his neck before long.  
  
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She was dreaming. Or was she? She couldn't quite be sure. She hurt all over, and couldn't remember why. There was also this insistent rubbing at her face...she wanted to tell it to go away, it hurt, why did it want to hurt her? but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to move, it was as if she was trapped inside her body and someone else was running the controls. Or, more likely, the "someone else" had suddenly died and now she couldn't find a way to the surface. It hurts ithurts ithurtsithurtsithurts was now running through her mind endlessly. Her eyelids and fingertips twitched, and then her body jerked rather violently. Pain exploded through her, a cry was rent from her lips, and once more the oblivion claimed her.  
  
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When Arianne's eyes and fingers moved a little, Will became hopeful that she was returning to consciousness. When her body suddenly jerked spasmodically, he was so startled he jumped up. A pained cry escaped her lips, then she relaxed and didn't move again.  
Will knelt back down, feeling for her pulse again, and found it, but now it was moving even slower, and her breathing was very very shallow. A memory of Elizabeth popped into his head, suddenly. She had once fainted because her corset was too tight--she had told him this--and had fallen into the water from atop the walls of the town. Realizing this was probably why Arianne couldn't draw a proper breath, he ran around, trying to find something to cut her out of the thrice-damned thing (only thrice damned?! Damn the blasted torture device to infinity!).  
At last, he found a pair of scissors, and began cutting away the outer parts of the dress.  
This process was interrupted when Jack finally dragged Amos into the shop. Will jumped, surprised, nearly dropping the scissors and causing Arianne more damage in the process.  
"Bastard's heavy!" Jack announced, then looked at Will's face. It was rather pale. "What's the matter? Did I scare ye?"  
"Yes, you did, thanks so much," Will replied wryly.  
Jack looked at what Will was doing, and smirked. "Didn't think ye were that type o' person, Will."  
"What?" he asked blankly. Jack motioned to the scissors and the cut away pieces of Arianne's dress. "Oh for crying out loud, she can't breathe, Jack! Arianne can't breathe!"  
"Arianne?" Jack said. "What was she doing in the alley? She was s'posed to be at home meeting with 'er husband-to-be!"  
"Well obviously she's NOT at home meeting with whoever he is, she was in the alley getting very badly beaten by her bastard of a brother!" Will said testily, and went back to cutting the dress off of her. Finishing that, he rolled her to her side so he could reach the laces of the corset, but they were so knotted and the corset itself was so tight he dared not cut it away without better lighting. "Bring me a light, Jack."  
Jack complied, lighting a lantern and holding it over Will. "A little more to the left...perfect!" Will said, sounding a bit distracted as he studied the laces. The wet stains on the corset had a deep red color, he could now see. He pressed his lips together grimly, and began to cut the laces apart.  
  
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She could breathe again, oh Lord she could breathe again, she thought, coming out of the nothingness once more. Still, she was trapped in her mind, though, and could only feel what was happening to her body. She still didn't know why she hurt so much, but with a somewhat sickening certainty, she knew she would find out. Hands were now on her, one on her arm, one on her leg (why were they touching skin? wasn't she wearing clothes?) then she felt as though her skin were being ripped off her middle, and forgot all about the hands. Now that she had enough air, she screamed.  
  
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Will felt a deep breath enter her body as the laces were finally cut through and the corset loosened. He knew this next part was going to be bad. He motioned for Jack to hold her down, then started to peel the corset away from her flesh. She screamed.  
  
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Hurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsohithurtssobadmakeitstop...  
  
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She only stopped screaming long enough to draw in a ragged breath before she started anew. Will was horrified at all the blood he saw as he carefully finished taking off the corset. A few seconds later, she seemed to gain a little control and now only whimpered and sobbed. "Oh my God," he whispered. He looked up at Jack, whose expression mirrored his own.  
  
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As that litany repeated itself over and over in her mind, she realized she was screaming, and that the feeling of her skin being peeled away finally ceased. She forced herself to stop screaming, and instead whimpered, every few seconds a searing sob wracking her body, making her back rub against whatever surface she was on--a little corner of her mind that contained some rationality told her it was likely blankets--and hurting her more. She thought she heard someone whisper "Oh my God," but couldn't be entirely sure. She knew now that the hands were no longer on her, if they had even been there in the first place.  
  
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Will wasn't entirely sure Arianne was even truly conscious yet, but he truly hoped she wasn't. He didn't want to hurt her any more than she already was(every whimper wrenched his heart), but he wasn't quite finished yet. He picked up another clean cloth (He had a large pile gathered), and dipped it in the water. He began to wash the blood off of her skin, which was the deep blue-black of bruises all over, he saw when the blood came off. He tried to clean as gently as he could, and found himself whispering over and over to her, "You'll be alright, Arianne, nothing is going to hurt you anymore, you're alright, I won't let anyone hurt you again..."  
  
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She heard him whispering to her as she felt cool trickling along her skin, the rubbing she had felt at her face now along her abdomen and ribs. It hurt so much. She cracked her swollen eyes open and looked at him--or tried to. He was all blurry. But she knew who it was. She knew. And so she believed she was dreaming, had to be, why would her unrequited love be tending her this way? As pain spread outward from one of the wounds as he cleaned it, she hissed in agony. Her vision became almost painfully sharp at this, and she saw clearly that it was, indeed, Will Turner, and one didn't feel pain in dreams that she knew of. In spite of her physical pain, she felt a warmth grow inside. She wasn't dreaming. He really was here. And he was whispering that he wouldn't let anything hurt her anymore. He was being as gentle as he could, she knew, and so she did her best not to whimper or sob anymore, but tears still came, blurring her vision of him until a jab of pain would sharpen it again.  
  
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Jack saw her eyes open. He saw her gaze go directly to Will. His worry eased a bit. She was going to be alright, she really was. Knowing there was nothing more he could really do here, he quietly got up, set the lantern down, and knocked Amos on the head again as he started to stir, then proceeded to find ropes.  
  
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Will at last finished cleaning her skin and the wicked wounds the corset had left. There were two long cuts along her sides ending just below her breasts where the supports of the corset had dug into her, and two cuts encircling her, one also just under her breasts, the other just below her waist where the top and bottom and abraded her skin until it bled. He suddenly realized that the whimpering had stopped, and looked at her face, expecting her to be unconscious again. Instead he was greeted by her startling, still pain-filled gaze.  
He also realized that she was quite naked, and blushed deeply. Seeming not to notice, she whispered hoarsely, "Do you promise?"  
  
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Alrighty! Chapter 7! Wooooooooot! ^.^ Hope you all like! And, again, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY READERS/REVIEWERS!!!!!! 


	8. It's About Time!

Chapter 8: It's About Time!  
  
Elizabeth sat talking to the women she had invited for lunch, and felt profoundly bored. How COULD these women sit here and speak of nothing more interesting than the latest gift their husbands had bought for them? Much less for an entire afternoon! She sighed a bit wistfully. It had been a while since Will had gotten her something special...Frowning, she banished that thought from her mind. She had no more interest in Will, what was the point? It would only make her feel guiltier than she already did. Now, a token from her dream-lover...THAT would be most welcome. Sighing again, only this time with longing, she daydreamed about him, completely losing the thread of conversation.  
He had just taken her into his arms for a kiss when all of a sudden he was speaking in a very feminine voice, "Elizabeth? Elizabeth, darling, are you quite alright?"  
Snapping out of her reverie, she smiled weakly at the countess. "I-- I'm alright, thank you, Isabella."  
"Are you sure?" she asked again.  
Seeing an opportunity to get rid of the bores, she said hesitantly, "Well...I DO feel a bit faint..."  
"Well, then, you should rest! We'll get out of your hair. We understand perfectly, darling. Why, I myself used to feel faint every so often when it happened to me, too," Isabella said, to her perplexity. She took the excuse, however, and simply smiled a bit in agreement. Isabella smiled indulgently at her, and then shooed the other women out.  
What on earth had that old crow been talking about? Elizabeth wondered.  
  
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Will, still blushing furiously, bandaged Arianne's wounds, doing his best to look only at what he was doing rather than looking at...other things. He missed the pain in her face, though he would no doubt have assumed it was from the wounds. "Will...do you promise?" she asked, and the pain was evident in her voice. He looked at her, surprised, for he was doing his best to be gentle, and there shouldn't have been such evident agony in her voice. Looking into her eyes, his heart broke a little more. There was so much pain in them, and not of the physical kind. She needed him. She loved him. She was afraid he'd abandon her.  
He was so shocked he just stared at her. She loved him? But...how? Why? He blinked once or twice, and then his heart wrenched again at the look on her face. He touched her unbruised cheek and smiled, completely forgetting her nakedness. "Of course I promise, Arianne."  
  
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Jack watched Will and Arianne from the corner where he had tied Amos with a smile on his face. He hadn't planned on Arianne's getting brutally beaten, but the plan was moving faster than he had planned, or so it seemed. Of course, now he had to rearrange things, but all in all it was a good thing...  
  
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She relaxed, then. He promised. She felt an all-encompassing warmth inside, and wanted to dance for joy. Then SHE finally realized that she was naked, and blushed furiously. Dear God, Will was seeing her naked! Will was TOUCHING her!!!!! She nearly died of embarrassment and no small amount of lust. He finally finished bandaging her up and said, "Umm...I don't have any clothes for you," while looking away, red tinging his cheeks as well. She blinked, then remembered.  
"Er...did you by chance see a bag in that alleyway? A green cloth bag?" she asked shyly, wishing she could cover up.  
"A bag? What are you--oooooooohhhhhh," he said, as comprehension dawned. "Are there clothes in the bag?" he asked.  
"Yes...there are...and, um, could you cover me up?" she asked plaintively.  
"Oh! Yes! Of course!" he said, restraining the urge to smack himself hard on the forehead. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that earlier. He brought her another blanket and brought it back to her, as she attempted to sit up. "Here, let me help you," he said, tenderness in his voice. She let him help her, and then took the blanket and wrapped it about herself.  
"Thank you," she said, feeling like a five-year-old with a crush and unable to look him in the eye. She did glance sideways at him, and noticed that he was still blushing. She smiled, hoping the blush meant what she thought it did.  
Mumbling something about getting her bag, Will stood up and rushed out of the shop.  
"How do ye feel, Arianne?" said a familiar voice from behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin, but her body wouldn't let her. It was still too painful, and the jolt as she jerked reminded her of that fact, tempering the warmth within her.  
"Jack? What are you doing here?" she said as he approached her.  
"I helped save ye, and I be keepin' an eye on the scum that calls himself yer brother," he said, smiling and gesturing towards a shapeless lump.  
"Oh! Thank you so much, Jack, for helping me...I...I don't know what would have happened if you and Will hadn't shown up..." Suddenly she found herself crying again.  
"Ah..." Jack stuttered as she started crying. He reached out to her, but then stopped, completely unsure what to do with a crying female.  
  
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She was crying when he came back inside with her bag. Jack was sort of hovering, as if unable to make up his mind what he should do. He rushed over to her and took her into his arms. "What happened?" he asked, looking up at Jack, who looked immensely relieved.  
"Well...I asked her if she was alright...and told her that we'd found 'er...and...she just started crying!" Jack said, sounding a bit confused. "Ye know...Elizabeth never did this..."  
"Arianne," Will said coldly, "is NOT Elizabeth, who has never had to deal with anything like this." Jack just went back to his post. Will turned suddenly tender eyes on Arianne and held her lightly so as not to hurt her, letting her cry herself out.  
  
"W-Will?" she sniffled, about ten minutes later. He stopped stroking her hair and released her, albeit reluctantly, and looked into her shimmering blue eyes.  
"Yes?"  
"I-I'm sorry, Will...I didn't mean to fall apart like this...a-and thank you very much for helping me, I'm very grateful," she said.  
"No, Arianne, don't be sorry. I'm sure I would have done the same were I in your shoes, darling," he said. "As it is, however, we need to get you out of here until nightfall. Do you think you can get dressed and come with Jack and I to my house?" She sniffed and nodded, looking at him with more than a little love in her gaze. "Good," he said, and went over to help Jack get Amos back into the alley, giving Arianne some privacy.  
  
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She waited until they had dragged her heavy lump of a brother outside before standing up--carefully--and reaching for her bag to bring out the shirt, kneelength breeches, stockings, and boots. Just as she was pulling on the stockings, a knocking sounded on the door. "Will? Jack?" she called, praying it was them. "Is that you?"  
A muffled "yes" came in through the door. "You can come in, I'm decent," she called out to them. They opened the door and came in. They were both breathless with the effort of dragging the great lump, Amos, out into the alley. Of course, he was still tied up, and they had knocked him on the head one more time simply for good measure.  
"Arianne? Are you ready to go?" he asked just as her boots were on properly. She nodded. "Wonderful. There shouldn't be anyone out and about at this time, it's the evening meal. Elizabeth is probably wondering just where I am," he said.  
Her heart plummeted. Elizabeth. He was married. It was hopeless. She kept her face straight, however, as they left the shop and began the walk to Will's home.  
  
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Elizabeth looked at the clock. Seven o'clock. Supper was ready, and was getting cold. Will should have been home half an hour ago. She sighed in disgust. He did this all too often when he got caught up in his work.  
Just as she was about to give up and have the cook put everything in the oven to keep warm, she heard the front door open.  
  
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Arianne was grateful that there was no one about at this hour...she was aware just how dreadful she must look. Her hair hung around her face, encrusted with dirt, she was wearing men's clothing...she had to look absolutely awful. She only wished Will didn't have to see her this way. She was still thinking along these lines when they reached Will's home and entered.  
"It's about damned time, Will Turner--" a feminine voice began.  
  
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Alrighty...I'm SOOO sorry that took so long! Thanks for being patient with me! 


	9. Avoidance and Cleansing

Chapter 9: Avoidance and Cleansing  
  
Will and Jack stepped together, keeping the very disheveled Arianne behind them and out of Elizabeth's sight. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I was talking with Jack and lost track of the time," Will said, sounding very apologetic. Too apologetic. Elizabeth frowned at him.  
"Where's me greeting, lovey?" Jack asked and stepped forward, as Will slipped Arianne off to the bedroom suite he shared with Elizabeth, leaving whatever Elizabeth replied unheard.  
"Alright, I know you're going to want to get cleaned up, and trust me, it'll make your meeting Elizabeth a lot better for you, the woman can throw a fit over the tiniest speck of dirt...it's terrible," Will said, gathering up towels and running the bathwater for her. "Too hot?" he asked. She checked the water and shook her head. "Alright. Well, I think I should probably get back to Elizabeth. Preferably before she starts flirting with him too badly...Anyway, do you need anything?"  
"Um...help with removal of my bandages...and more bandages for later, as these have no doubt been bled through by now, if you don't mind..." she said a bit hesitantly.  
"Oh of course!" he exclaimed, feeling incredibly stupid.  
She stared at him, and suddenly she realized that if he were never to speak to her again, she would die. She needed him. Sure, she was in love with him, but that had been an infatuation...it was nothing compared to what she felt now. On an impulse, she took off the shirt and presented her back to him, hoping he'd take the hint and begin to unwind her bandages.  
  
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He stared at her. She had just taken off her shirt...oh God how beautiful she was. He found himself getting rather excited, but swallowed down what he wanted to say and instead began to unwrap the bandages around her waist and ribs. This was pure torture. He wanted so badly to tell her...what? What did he want to tell her? He shook his head and simply continued to unwind.  
When he finished, he sighed inwardly with relief and made to leave, but Arianne held him back with a single word. "Will," she said softly, his name a caress. He turned back to her. She stared soberly at him. "Will, thank you. Thank you for helping me. I don't know what I'd have done without you."  
Impulsively, he moved back over to her and took her in his arms-- always careful of her wounds--and kissed her lips lightly. Knowing he wouldn't be able to control himself much longer with her naked torso pressed against him, he quickly moved out of the bathing room, leaving her stunned and staring after him. He tracked down one of the servants and gave instructions on re-bandaging Arianne's wounds after she had finished bathing.  
  
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"Jack!" Elizabeth replied in unconcealed joy, barely even noticing that Will had hurried off. "I'm so happy you're back!" She hugged him.  
"Well, if this is the greeting I get when I come here, I should definitely come more often!" Jack exclaimed, hugging back and then gently pushing her away.  
She felt all fluttery inside, and couldn't help but grin at him with what she fervently hoped was NOT a foolishly infatuated look on her face. She had hoped he'd come to her...would he now fulfill the rest of her fantasies? She repressed a sigh.  
"You will be staying for supper, I hope?" she asked, almost pleading.  
  
"Of course!" he replied. "Wouldn't miss a free meal, now, would I?"  
She smiled happily and told Jack to make himself comfortable as she rushed into the kitchen to inform the cook there would be another guest for supper. Thrilled, she helped the man make more food, as well as some for Jack to take with him when he departed. Hopefully with a guest of his own...  
  
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Arianne stared after Will blankly, her knees giving out on her and making her fall onto a chair somewhat painfully. The pain jolted her out of her stunned trance. Blinking back involuntary tears, she slid out of the boots, stockings and breeches and carefully climbed into the huge bathtub. The hot water felt fantastic. She sat there for a little while and simply let it relax her muscles and relieve the tension she felt.  
In the meantime, she thought about the kiss. Why had he done that, and then left without so much as another word? She had wanted him to kiss her again, when she was prepared to kiss him back. She sighed. Did this mean he had feelings for her, though? Or was he simply reacting to her half- naked body? Oh she hoped it was the former. She didn't know if she could stand not being able to act on her feelings for him for the rest of her life.  
Realizing her thoughts were now going in circles, she ended the train and decided to work at unpinning her hair so she could wash it. She sighed with frustration. Damn the elaborate hairstyles, there were far too many pins and such to remove, and it was doubly difficult to undo her hair in the dirty mess it was in. What made the dismal task even harder was the fact that her shoulders hurt so very bad...  
A knock sounded on the door. Praying it wasn't Elizabeth, she called out for whomever it was to come inside. She breathed a sigh of relief...it was only a servant. Seeing what Arianne was about, the girl wordlessly came around and began to unpin her hair. Arianne put her arms down in relief and let the hot water relax the tension she had put into her shoulders.  
"Ma'am? Ma'am?" she heard a soft voice asking and realized she must have fallen into a doze.  
"Yes?" Arianne replied, blinking her eyes to rid herself of the fuzziness.  
"Should I brush your hair, ma'am?" the girl asked.  
Arianne winced, but knew it had to be done. She sighed. "Yes, please, if you don't mind."  
"Yes, ma'am."  
The girl went to work on her hair, and though she tried to be gentle, Arianne flinched several times as she encountered a rough knot or a clod of dirt.  
  
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Jack had been sitting in an armchair in the sitting room for what seemed like hours before Will finally reappeared, looking a bit dazed. "Did ye get her taken care of, then?" Will nodded dumbly and sat down. Jack grinned inwardly. Will really was quite smitten with the girl. But was Will enough in love with her for him to pull off his own stunt? He decided to bide his time. He could be patient. And in the end, didn't Jack Sparrow always get what he wanted?  
  
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Will felt odd. Very odd. What had he been thinking, kissing Arianne like that? Wasn't he breaking his vows to Elizabeth? Though she was breaking her vows in thought, Will couldn't shake himself of the guilt he felt of breaking his vows in deed. And thought, now that he really took the time to think about it. Hadn't he been thinking about leaving Elizabeth? Hadn't he been thinking about how beautiful Arianne was and, he had to admit, indulging in fantasies of what it might be like with her? Wasn't his crime worse than Elizabeth's? He sighed, his conscience torturing him, and sat opposite Jack, though he barely even acknowledged Jack's question, and his mind continued to turn in circles.  
  
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Arianne dunked her head under the water, her hair finally detangled, and surfaced, grimacing a bit at the dirt that was now in the water. Resignedly, however, she rubbed soap into her hair, scrubbing her scalp and working the soap up into quite the lather before she finally felt her hair was clean. If there was one thing she really disliked, it was uncleanliness. Draining the tub, she stood up and allowed the maid to dump buckets of lukewarm water over her head until all the soap was rinsed out, then proceeded to brush her hair again.  
When her hair was unknotted once more, Arianne tied it into a knot at the nape of her neck and began to carefully wash the rest of her body, realizing she probably should have done this first. She carefully went over every inch of her body, even more careful over the wounds blood had been washed away from and were now slowly preparing to leak the precious red stuff again. She allowed herself to be rinsed once more and then toweled herself off, letting the maid bandage her up again before unknotting her hair to let it air-dry a bit before putting the rest of her clothes back on.  
  
Not much later, she left the bathing room fully clothed and looked at the small timepiece in the bedroom. It was after 8 o'clock. The summer sun, of course, wouldn't set until around ten, and Arianne knew she couldn't hide up here forever. Also, she was getting hungry. Sighing, she resolutely opened the door to the bedroom and motioned for the servant to lead the way to wherever everyone else was at, braiding her damp hair along the way.  
  
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Alright, I doubt that they had waterheaters in this time-period...but I really didn't want this scene to take all that long... 


	10. That Girl!

Chapter 10: That Girl!  
  
Will looked up, startled, as the maidservant he had left with Arianne appeared in the doorway. "Sir," she said, bowed, and left. A bit confused, Will stared after her for a moment, and then Arianne came into view. He smiled at her, and couldn't help but think how like a child she looked, her shirt far too big for her and nearly concealing her features, her hair bound back in a single braid, little tendrils of it falling around her face as it dried. The image of a child was lost, however, when he saw the bruise marring her perfect cheek. His protectiveness surged up in him again, and he vowed to himself that he would do his very best to keep his promise to her. He would protect her, no matter what it took.  
"Come sit down, please," he said, gesturing to a chair, staying relaxed and hoping that it would help her relax as well. She smiled at him, and gingerly sat on the edge of a seat, looking all around the room.  
"Not too shabby a house, eh?" Jack suddenly pitched in, and from the way Arianne startled, she hadn't even realized he was there.  
"Not too shabby indeed. In fact, I think it's quite nice. Even nicer than ours, especially when--" she choked back whatever it had been that she had been about to say, and simply studied the room again. Taking her cue, Jack and Will pretended she didn't even start the sentence, though Will wondered what she really had been about to say...  
  
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Arianne stopped herself before saying "when Amos is around," and smacked herself mentally for nearly slipping up. She did NOT want to think of him when she was in Will's house. Albeit she was likely to get eaten alive by Elizabeth, but that had to be less painful than anything she had dealt with from Amos. She fidgeted a bit in her seat, not looking forward to when she finally did meet the woman Will had married. She had no doubt whatsoever that Will had meant that she could be formidable. After all, she had stood up to the commodore to whom she had been affianced all to save Jack Sparrow from hanging...  
Arianne tried not to think about that and instead focused on the kiss. She suppressed a sigh, and found herself staring straight at Will-- "And just WHAT is THAT?" exclaimed a startled--and yes, disgusted--woman at the top of her lungs from the doorway Arianne had entered not five minutes ago. She jerked her head up and looked at Elizabeth, trying to conceal her feelings behind a mask of indifference.  
  
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Elizabeth entered the sitting room to find Jack, Will, and...what the hell? "And just WHAT is THAT?" she shouted. She was enraged. It was no wonder Will had been ignoring her in bed, he had been seeing THAT thing that was sitting on the couch. Jealousy immdediately rose up in her like a dragon at the first sight of the gorgeous woman's profile: a perfectly shaped face; waist-length hair that, from the tendrils, she knew would be a golden blonde; a perfect figure, in spite of the fact that it was nearly concealed by the oversized shirt she wore...and she was staring at Will-- HER husband!--with a look of rapt fascination and love radiating from her eyes.  
"Elizabeth...this is Arianne and she's--" Will began, and Elizabeth's attention riveted on Will.  
"You! No wonder you're home later than you used to be every single night! I had been wondering why you seemed to suddenly not be so anxious to return home to me, but now! Now I know! You've been going to this WHORE the whole time! How good is she, Will?" Her voice shook with rage and barely suppressed tears as Will just stared at her in abject shock. Clamping her lips shut so she wouldn't sob in front of him, she glared at him again through eyes that were threatening to overflow, and left the room abruptly.  
  
As soon as she stepped out, one tear, then two, then a dozen and then what seemed like thousands began to flood from her eyes and she hurried upstairs to the bedroom suite she and Will shared. Flinging herself down on the bed, she buried her face in a pillow to muffle her sobs.  
  
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Arianne swallowed hard, barely holding back tears herself. A whore? Sure, Amos called her that all the time...but somehow, hearing it from someone else made it hurt that much more. Oh and she was angry too. Very angry. How dared Elizabeth accuse Will of infidelity? How dare she! Will would never do anything of the sort, he wouldn't!  
"Ah..." Jack began.  
Will stood up. "I'm going to go talk to her," he said, his voice cold with anger. "Please, stay here." With that, he left the room as well, anger stiffening every line of his body and purpose lengthening his strides.  
Arianne watched him go, pain and fury warring within her.  
"Arianne," Jack said softly. She looked at him. "Elizabeth was just caught by surprise, love, she didn't mean what she said."  
At the look of disbelief on her face, Jack amended that statement with, "Oh, she meant what she said, but given the time to calm down or someone--" by the stress on "someone" she knew it must have been Will, "to make her see sense, she'll realize that she really didn't mean it. She knows Will would never be unfaithful to her, but seeing another beautiful woman in her house staring at her husband..." Jack shrugged.  
Arianne just stared at him, a little shocked at his eloquent speech and the emotion she couldn't quite name behind his words and his expression. Puzzled, she just stared at him.  
  
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Will made his way to the bedroom, his anger increasing with every step he took. He stopped just outside the door to breathe deeply and at least calm himself a little so he wouldn't lose control before entering, and heard what could only be sobbing. He sighed, his fury receding--but not by any means evaporating. He turned the handle and entered the room as quietly as he could and sat on the chair closest to the bed.  
"Elizabeth," he said, just a touch of coldness entering his voice, which he stifled before he could continue. "Elizabeth, that was truly hurtful," he said as calmly as he could. "How could you ever think that I would be unfaithful to you?"  
She lifted her head and looked at him, eyes red, face blotchy from her crying. "I--I don't know..." she said, wiping her nose on a handkerchief and sitting up, trying to get herself back under control, the occasional sob still racking her body.  
"For your information, Elizabeth, that girl out there was being brutally beaten by her own brother this afternoon, and I happen to believe that it wasn't the first time it's happened, though maybe not to the extreme he was taking it to today. Did you even look at her face? Did you see the bruise on her cheek, extending to her jawline?"  
"N-n-nooo," Elizabeth said, her expression now one of shame.  
"Right. All you could think about was that you had been cheated of something that was yours, am I right?"  
Elizabeth just stared at her lap.  
He walked over and lifted her chin so she had to look at him. "Am I right?" he whispered. She sniffled and nodded slightly. He let her go. "Now, what I would like to know is why you would even have cared if I were going to some whore--and I'm not--when you don't even love me anymore yourself."  
Her eyes widened. She started to deny it. "No," he said sharply. "Don't even start. I know, Elizabeth, I know that you don't. You've always been a terrible liar, and I've heard you mumbling in your sleep. You accused me of being unfaithful to you...just how faithful have you been to me?"  
Anger sparked in her eyes and she opened her mouth to say something cruel, but stopped herself. Her expression changed to one of shame once more. "I...Will, I...I do still love you...but not...not as a wife should love a husband. I'm sorry." She hung her head again.  
"Elizabeth, it's alright. I--what really hurt was that you were lying to me. I stopped coming to you for--things--because we aren't suited to each other. We shouldn't remain together if we're both in love with someone else."  
Her head snapped up. "'We're both in love with someone else'?" she asked, startled. "But who...that girl?!"  
"Yes, 'that girl,' and now I'd like to know who it is you've been thinking of all this time," he asked gently, if a little irritated at Elizabeth not even acknowledging that Arianne did indeed have a name.  
  
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Wooooooot! Chapter 10! ^.^ Thanks again to my reviewers, and thank you Mia for "demanding" new chapters all the time:P I love you too, lol! 


	11. Elizabeth Informed

Chapter 11: Elizabeth Informed  
  
Arianne sat tensely on the edge of her seat, wondering what was happening with Will and Elizabeth, and hating the absolute silence in the room. She wished Jack would say something, but when she looked at him, his facial expression was one of slight worry and concentration. She didn't interrupt him. She started pulling at her lower lip, caught herself, and stopped. She did this several more times before she couldn't handle sitting still anymore and got up to pace. Jack didn't even notice. What was happening? Did she even have a chance with Will? Her heart clenched painfully at the thought that he might never love her at all.... Banishing the thought, she forced herself to sit down and sit still.  
  
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"So...you're not mad?" Elizabeth asked, surprised.  
"No, I'm not mad. A little sad, maybe, but that's all," Will said wearily, no longer angry. "Will? Why...why her?" She asked a bit timidly.  
He smiled, but not at her. He seemed to be far away from the room they were in. "She's the bravest, most beautiful and talented woman I've ever met...and she's not afraid to be who she wants to be. She even roams the docks wearing breeches and a shirt, talking to the crews of the docked ships," he said a bit dreamily, his eyes sparkling with warmth and love. "I think that's how she met Jack, actually."  
"And just how did you meet her?" Elizabeth asked, a bit of hurt in her voice from Will's description. Wasn't she brave and beautiful? Wasn't she her own person?  
Will snapped out of it and replied, seeming not to notice the emotion in her voice. "Actually, she asked me to teach her how to use the sword. Well, she'd asked Jack first, but he recommended me. I would have said no-- I started to, in fact--but Jack insisted I take her on. Who am I to refuse someone Jack recommends?" he shrugged.  
"How long have you been giving her lessons?"  
"She's had three lessons so far...but it looks like I'm going to have to put those off for a while until she heals a bit. You should see her body, Elizabeth, it's black and blue from her hips up, and the corset she was wearing cut her up."  
Elizabeth winced in sympathy. She had no love of corsets and fervently wished they would go out of style. Then she caught something Will had said..."Will Turner! You said you hadn't been unfaithful to me!" He just looked at her, puzzled. "How could you know her body is black and blue from her hips up, hmm?"  
Will glowered at her. "SOMEONE had to take her out of the alley away from her brother. SOMEONE had to see why she couldn't breathe, and SOMEONE had to clean up her wounds, and as no one but Jack and I were around to do it, WE did it. I have not been unfaithful to you! Now would you please stop jumping to conclusions?" Will exclaimed, very irritated. "Furthermore," he continued, "what does it matter to you anyway? We don't even love each other!"  
Ashamed, Elizabeth blushed a deep crimson. "I-I'm sorry, Will, I'll stop, I promise. I just...it's hard. I mean, I know we don't love each other anymore...but you were mine. It's hard for me to lose, Will."  
He sighed. "Oh well. Are you back under control now?" When she nodded, he smiled wryly and said they should go back downstairs. He also told her exactly what he wanted her to do when they did get down there. She agreed completely, and they left the room together as friends.  
  
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Some time later, Will returned with Elizabeth, and both of them seemed much calmer--if a little sad--than when Elizabeth had accused Will of being unfaithful and Arianne of being a whore. Arianne sighed in relief and smiled a bit at Will. Elizabeth walked towards her and held out a hand. Taking it, Arianne stood up, looking at Elizabeth with a bit of confusion.  
"Arianne...I am very sorry about what I said about you. I know you aren't a whore or anything of the sort, and I am very sorry for what you have gone through," Elizabeth said rather sheepishly, Arianne thought. Though still a bit annoyed at the whole situation, Arianne simply smiled and accepted the apology. Elizabeth smiled brightly at her in gratitude for accepting her apology, and Arianne found herself warming a bit towards Elizabeth.  
Though she was still extremely jealous of her, and wondered what would happen between her and Will now.  
"Um...what I came in to tell you all before I-I lost my mind was that supper is ready. So, if you would all come to the dining room?"  
They followed her and sat down at a fairly large table ("Luncheons," Elizabeth said ruefully as they gathered around the end of the large table, "I have to invite the other lady nobles to lunch here once a week,"). Arianne briefly thought about the luncheons her mother had held occasionally, but then thought of nothing else as the food was brought out and she realized suddenly that she was starving.  
  
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Will glanced at Arianne over the table, relieved that she had so graciously accepted the apology Elizabeth had proffered. He had been afraid that Arianne would be angry and cold towards Elizabeth--and rightly so, naturally, as Elizabeth had said some horrible things. But he knew now that he should have expected better from his student, and felt a bit ashamed that he had thought she would be catty with Elizabeth.  
As they began the meal, Will and Jack informed Elizabeth of what had happened, and Will proposed his plan to Jack: he and Jack would take Arianne out to the Black Pearl this night when darkness fell. Jack, of course, agreed, and then suggested that Will at least come along as well. Then, of course, Elizabeth wanted to come...  
"Well," started Arianne as silence fell, "since Jack and Will are going to be wanted when Amos tells the police what happened, I do believe Will should come with us, but Elizabeth, you should stay here."  
"What?! I'm not going to stay here while all of you are going out to..." Elizabeth exclaimed in indignation.  
"You have to stay here, Elizabeth, or the police will think you had something to do with my kidnapping as well," Arianne reasoned.  
"She's right, Elizabeth," Will said solemnly. "We're going to be wanted men...er...and woman..." he trailed off, as he started to think. The protestations continued around him as the idea took shape in his mind. By the time it had, Elizabeth was shouting about how unfair it was for her to be left behind while everyone else got to go off on an adventure and leave her to wait.  
"For the love of God, Elizabeth, be quiet!" he shouted over her. She stopped mid-sentence and stared at him, her jaw hanging open. "Thank you. I have an idea. Now, Elizabeth, here's what's going to happen with you..."  
As the food vanished, the plan was explained and Elizabeth came to understand why she had to stay behind. No longer offended, she smiled and wished them all luck. After they had eaten, Elizabeth went into the kitchen to get some food to send them on their way. That being done, Arianne, Jack, and Will slipped out into the dark of night and made their way down to Jack's ship.  
  
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Alrighty then! I got this done because I was home alone (except for my baby, of course) all day! No one to bother me! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Alrighty, I'd like to thank Kevin here for loving me and not being mad at me for writing my little story and having a slight obsession with Orlando Bloom. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! 


	12. Into the Night

Chapter 12: Into the Night  
  
"Put your braid on the inside of your shirt, Arianne. We want anyone that might see you to assume that you're just another boy," Will said quietly as they stepped out the door. Arianne nodded, a bit nervous now, and tucked the braid into her shirt. Will smiled encouragingly at her, and she managed to give him a smile back before returning to her fearful thoughts. What if Amos was out there waiting for her? What if he knew who had hit him? Oh, he likely did, Amos was a crafty creature, he would no doubt find a way to convince others that it had been Will and Jack beating her and he had only tried to rescue his darling sister...  
Arianne shook her head clear of the thought, though she couldn't help but think about the punishment she would receive once she was back in his hands again. She shuddered involuntarily. Will saw it, and offered her his jacket, thinking she might be cold. She took it and huddled in it, pulling it up around her face so she could revel in the scent of him. There was a faint trace of smoke, but mostly it smelled of soap, and perhaps a bit of sweat. It wasn't at all unpleasant, however, and her mind was taken off of Amos and she indulged in fantasies of herself and Will.  
Abruptly, she collided with a warm back and looked up, startled. Will reached back for her hand and squeezed it in warning before pulling her into a shadowed alley. He kept hold of her hand as two men--completely inebriated, by the sound of it--made their way by, singing loudly, each with a bottle in his hand that sounded nearly empty as liquid swished around the bottom of the jugs.  
"Oy, me bo'le's gone dry!" cried one to the other in indignation.  
"OH MARYANNE WAS A LUSTY LASS..." sang the other, apparently not even listening to his pal, who eventually joined up in the song as they moved on down the street. Arianne looked over at Will's profile, not being able to see much of it due to the darkness, and he looked back at her and squeezed her hand again. She thought he smiled, but couldn't be sure. He let it go as Jack led the way back onto the boarded sidewalk, apparently deciding to take a page from the drunken fellows' book. He began singing "A Pirate's Life For Me," at the top of his lungs and slurred every other word or so, and Will and Arianne moved up on either side of him and pretended to hold him steady while leading him back to his ship.  
Arianne wished Will was still holding her hand. She was scared again, half expecting Amos to jump out of the next shop or alleyway and grab her. She swallowed nervously and tried to keep an expression of fond tolerance on her face as she and Will led the drunkenly staggering Jack to the Black Pearl. At one point, she almost began laughing hysterically at the whole mess, but stopped herself before she started, knowing that once she did, she wouldn't be able to stop.  
When they finally reached the docks, she expected Jack to give up his act, but he didn't. In fact, he stumbled over what was presumably a rock and dragged Arianne and Will down with him, laughing maniacally the whole way. Will stood up first, and began pulling on Jack's arm, and Arianne followed his cue. Jack didn't help them at all. He became a dead weight between the two, feigning unconsciousness. Stumbling under Jack's surprising weight (he was so thin, HOW did he weigh so much?), they made their way to the Black Pearl without being noticed at all.  
Will called up their identities when the query came down from the ship, and a gangplank was lowered. Jack, seeming to have suddenly regained sobriety as well as consciousness, swaggered up as Arianne and Will followed, Arianne's shoulders and ribs aching from carrying half of Jack's weight.  
  
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Will looked at Arianne when Jack showed them to their cabin (they were to share due to a limited number of such cabins on the ship) with some worry. Her face was pale and covered with a sheen of sweat. She sat heavily on one of the bunks, breathing heavily. He sat next to her and told her to lift her shirt enough that he could see the bandages. As she did this, he noticed that she was shaking as well. Frowning, he looked at the bandages and saw red seeping through. Damn Jack anyway, he thought.  
"I just need you to stay like that while I put some salve on the bruises and cuts and then put more bandages on, can you do it?" he asked gently.  
She nodded, pursing her lips, the bruise on her face standing out even more clearly against her waxen face. He carefully removed the bandages, trying his best not to hurt her, though the fresh blood ensured that the cloth wasn't sticking. This task finally finished, he grabbed a clean, wet washcloth from the bucket of water at his feet and cleaned the blood off of her torso. The wounds stopped bleeding so profusely, and instead only sullenly seeped tiny droplets of blood before Will began putting the salve on the cuts. Arianne hissed in pain, but no other complaint did she make though her body was as tense as a bowstring. He finished as quickly as he could and moved on to her bruises. She relaxed a little, but tensed every time he found a sensitive spot.  
When he was finally finished with everything, including fresh bandages, he told her she could drop her shirt. Looking at her face, he saw tears of relief sliding over her cheeks. She seemed helpless to stop them. He held her close gently and she wept unashamedly into his shoulder for the second time that day. He stroked her hair over and over, rocking back and forth a little bit to comfort her, damning Amos to the lowest hells, and damning her family for not stopping his cruelty. No one deserved so much pain. Except Amos, naturally. Eventually, the shaking of her body ceased and she was still against him. The hand holding tightly to his shirt relaxed and fell...to a very interesting place. He was forced to throttle his urges, realizing that she was asleep by the deep and even breathing, and instead laid her gently down on the bunk, covering her up and removing her boots.  
He watched her sleep for a while, loving the peaceful expression on her face--the only time he had ever seen her at peace, he realized--before sleep decided to politely ask that he rest. Loath as he was to take his eyes off of her, he took his own boots off, removed his shirt, blew out the lantern and laid down in his own bunk, falling asleep nearly immediately.  
  
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Jack roused those of his crew that were sleeping, telling them that they had to get out to sea. He told them of his two very important passengers, the likelihood that he himself was in trouble with the authorities and that it was very important that they get moving right away. Good-natured grumbling at being aroused soon ceased as they all worked to get the ship underway, Jack at the wheel.  
When they were well out to sea, Jack gazed at the stars, wondering when his own desires would be granted. Softly, so no one else would hear, he sang the line, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me..."  
  
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^.^ Two in one day, yay! Hope you're all happy! 


	13. The Plan

Chapter 13: The Plan  
  
Amos awoke with a pounding headache, his cheek against a rough gritty surface that proved to be dirt. He was confused, and couldn't figure out why he was laying on the ground. It was quiet, except for the scrabble of rats and probably cats and dogs rooting for food. He pushed himself up onto his feet. Only by sheer force of will was Amos able to hold himself upright as the headache surged to the fore, temporarily blinding him with pain. The pain only angered him. He, who had never before had pain inflicted on him, was now at the mercy of a painful throbbing at the back of his skull, the source of which was a few very large bumps.  
Slowly, his memory returned. He had been with Arianne, meting out a perfectly just punishment when...when what? He tried to think of what had happened...all he could remember was a sharp pain...Fury clouded his mind. Arianne had something to do with it, the little whore. He knew she did. But he also distinctly remembered that she had been on the ground before he couldn't remember any more...in fact, she hadn't been moving. He hoped he hadn't killed the girl, she still hadn't paid the full price for her insolence. Growling, he took a step and found he had to support himself on the wall to get anywhere.  
Finally finding his way out of the alley, he looked at the shop that supported his endeavor. The blacksmith's...blasted Will Turner's shop...sure, he made great blades, but the bastard was a pirate-lover. Hell, for all anyone knew, he WAS a bastard. Not only that, but he had Elizabeth Swann. Amos had wanted her for years...and then Will, who had no family to speak of and was a lowly blacksmith's apprentice, stole her right out from under his nose.  
Suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind. How perfect would it be to frame Will for his being knocked out in the alley? How perfect, for then he'd go to jail and Amos could court Elizabeth...While he was at it, he'd bring Jack Sparrow into the picture. Smiling wickedly, he remembered that the Black Pearl had been at port this morning. It would be so easy...so very easy to do this...laughing out loud, in spite of the fresh attack of pain in his head, he made his way slowly to his house down the deserted street.  
Little did he know that he had missed Arianne, Will, and Jack as they departed for Will's house by little more than five minutes.  
  
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"I'm so sorry my daughter never came back down, Sir James," Arianne's father said to Sir James around the time Arianne was being tended by Will in the shop. "I'm sure she became a bit ill...it happens every so often, you know."  
"Yes, yes, perfectly alright, I understand perfectly," James replied in good humor. "Just so long as she doesn't take sick on our wedding night if you know what I mean." He winked.  
"Right-o, old boy!" Mr. Bailey said cheerfully, wishing his friend a fond farewell.  
Shutting the door behind Sir James, however, Arthur Bailey was very angry with his only daughter. He stormed up the stairs and knocked on her door imperiously, shouting for her to open up. He got no reply. Scowling fiercely, he tried the door. To his utter infuriation, it was locked, and from the inside, so he couldn't unlock it himself.  
Still getting no reply after shouting himself hoarse, he cursed her roundly as he broke the lock with a crowbar and stormed into her room, where he found even more reason to curse. He roared the curses at the top of his lungs for a round half hour when he found the sheet rope still tied to the bedpost and hanging out the window.  
  
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Amos made sure to enter by the servants' entrance and snitched a knife from the kitchen before heading up to his room quietly, dodging anyone who might see him. Once there, he cut himself in seemingly chance places, a slash across the arm, cutting his sleeve, one along his side, but there he didn't slice skin. He also bashed himself a couple times in the face, to make it that much more convincing. He had to sit down after the head bashing, due to the probable concussion objecting to his head taking more damage. His weakness only infuriated him more, of course. He would take his revenge on Arianne, there was no doubt about it. And while he was at it, he would make Elizabeth his as well. Oh the exquisite pleasure of Elizabeth submitting to him. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he left his room and went back outside as quietly as he'd come, making sure no one saw him. Grinning as he made his way around the back of the house to look as though he was coming from the business district, he schooled his expression when he reached the house to be one of utter agony. He staggered up to the door, opening it and falling facedown inside the door, making a kind of strangled cry as he did so.  
  
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Marian watched Amos slip upstairs and hurried to her mistress' rooms. "Madam," she whispered softly as she entered the dim suite where she knew Amara was.  
"Yes?" came a voice from one of the chairs.  
"Madam, I just saw Master Amos go upstairs. He had a bump on the back of his head."  
"Thank you, Marian, that will be all."  
Bowing, Marian left the suite and returned to her normal duties.  
  
Amara reflected on this. She knew that Arianne had been gone for a large portion of the afternoon. Marian had talked to Katie shortly after Arianne had disappeared. Katie had talked to one of the servants from next door, and she had told her that she thought she'd seen Arianne sneaking through the bushes. Amos hadn't been home through any of this. He hadn't even bothered to be around for the meeting with Sir James. That was odd, Amos seemed to take an unusual interest in Arianne.  
Of course, Amara knew about some of the things Amos had done to Arianne. In fact, Amos hated Amara almost as much as he hated his sister. Amara had stopped him from beating up the young Arianne more than once, and Amos had harbored the grudge ever since. Amara could do nothing about it, now, however. She suspected Amos still beat on Arianne, probably more brutally than he had when he was younger thanks to his dual frustration of being unable to do the same to his own mother. She shuddered that such a monster had been born of her body. She had no control of the situation.Arthur had recently taken any control she may have had over her children away completely. He was trying to force her only daughter to marry a man more than three times her age. Amara was distraught. She didn't want to be left alone with Arthur and Amos. Arianne was the only one that ever paid her any attention anymore. On the other hand, she didn't want Arianne to be here for more torture. Amara knew that Arianne had been doing something out of the ordinary for the past week. She'd been walking around in a blissful daze the whole time. Amara hadn't had the chance to question her, however, and thus had no idea what her daughter was up to. Amara only hoped that Arianne had met with friends. Such as Jack Sparrow. Jack would be able to protect her. Jack would even be a suitable husband as far as Amara was concerned. Arianne loved to get her hands dirty, and she loved the pirate stories. She would have loved to be a member of the pirate crew of the Black Pearl. Worried, Amara twisted her wedding ring around her finger and prayed with all her might that Amos hadn't found Arianne this afternoon.  
  
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Woot! Chapter 13! This one I almost had to rewrite, because it was almost lost in the change of computers.but I didn't have to so the chapter isn't as screwed up as I feared it would be! However, it's not quite what my mind had been going to today, but I kind of like where the story led me anyway. Anywho, thanks again to everyone that's read the story! ^.^ I hope you like so far! Also, have you noticed that I keep naming family members of Arianne beginning with "A"? It didn't really click until this chapter. 


	14. Dreamtime

Chapter 14: Dreamtime  
  
She was running down a dark alley, lots of horrible somethings with red eyes and sharp teeth following her, but those weren't what she was running from. She couldn't remember her name, or why the terrible something was following her, but she knew she had to escape him or she would be lost, lost forever.  
The little somethings were gaining on her; some ran past her, others nipped at her heels, making her run even faster, though it pained her bruised and torn muscles. She knew that he was getting closer. He was going to capture her. His hand was suddenly on her shoulder, shaking her, she screamed...  
  
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Soft whimpering woke him from deep slumber. He blinked, confused, not entirely sure where he was. When he heard the whimpering again, memory returned, and he knew who it was that was whimpering and now tossing and turning. Arianne. She would tear the wounds open again if she kept this up, he thought. He got out of bed and went over to her, touched her shoulder lightly with no response. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her a bit. This only made her thrash more, and she screamed, coming wide awake and struggling.  
"Arianne!" Will shouted. "It's me, it's only me!"  
She stopped struggling and fell back against the bed, and he sensed her staring up at him in the darkness. "Will," she said, her voice quivering with relief and unshed tears.  
"Hush, it's alright, you were dreaming," he said and stroked a few sweat-soaked strands of hair back from her face. Her hands reached up and grabbed his, holding it close to her as she curled up around him as well as she could. She was shivering. He ached inside. She needed someone to reassure her, tell her it was alright, to rock her to sleep. He stood up, gently disentangling his hand, and picked her up. He brought her over to his bed and laid her down. She immediately curled into a ball. He curled himself around her, putting his arm over her and holding her close to him, her head near his heart so she could feel the comforting beat. Arianne relaxed almost immediately. Pulling the blanket up over them both, sleep claimed him once more.  
  
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Early morning. Arianne woke to a beam of sunlight in her eye and unaccustomed warmth at her back. She laid perfectly still until memory returned to her. She was on Jack Sparrow's ship, the Black Pearl. She shared quarters with Will Turner. Was that.? Turning carefully so as not to hurt herself or to wake whomever was curled around her so protectively, she looked into Will Turner's peaceful face, his lips curled up in a tiny smile. He had a bit of hair across his face, which she brushed back lightly, the better to see his much beloved face in a perfect state of peace.  
Happy warmth filled her soul to bursting before she thought to question her good fortune. Why was she in the same bed as Will? She thought hard about this for a few moments before her head started to ache and she unwittingly fell back into a deep, deep sleep.  
  
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They floated in a pearlescent landscape, holding tightly to each other. His angel gently moved hair back from his face, smiling up at him softly. She stroked his cheek. He leaned into her touch, yearning for her to touch him again, to never stop. He whispered her name. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips, then released him and ran off, looking over her shoulder coquettishly. He chased after.  
Finally, he tackled her. She laughed breathlessly, throwing her arms around his neck, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. He kissed her. He kissed her again, and still more. She kissed back, twining her fingers in his hair and stroking his back.  
His need intensified to a burning inside that quickly became nearly unbearable. He was on fire. She put a finger to his lips as he bent down to kiss her yet again, and shook her head. He knew sudden desolation. She smiled softly at him in sympathy and the fire was doused in cool water. He was still warm inside, he still wanted to be with her, but he understood now.  
  
He woke, soft breathing on his bare chest. He looked down and saw Arianne, her face absolutely peaceful for the first time since he'd known her. She looked innocent, her face was relaxed. Her mouth was open slightly. When she sighed, he smiled lovingly down at her. He loved her. He didn't know how this could have happened so fast, but he loved her all the same. It was hard to keep from telling her, but he didn't want to move too fast and scare her. He thought back to the dream, the angel with the golden hair and brilliant blue eyes.  
Stroking her hair, he watched her, content for now to be with her just like this.  
  
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Jack finally took retreated to his cabin around one o'clock in the morning. He laid there for a while, unable to sleep, wishing he weren't alone. At least Will and Arianne had each other. He was proud of that, however, and didn't regret bringing them together, for it put him closer to his own goal. He was finally within reach of the one person he had ever even considered spending the rest of his life with, and he couldn't even have her with him when he wanted her most. He sighed. It must be for the better.  
She had to stay behind, in order to convince the others that he and Will hadn't beaten Arianne, that they had taken her away of her own free will, that she had gone with them for her own safety. She couldn't be left within the city. If she had been, the guard would have come to escort her home, and Will and Jack would likely have been imprisoned for harboring her.  
Sighing, he forced himself to relax and finally went to sleep.  
  
She came to him wearing diaphanous white gown. She sat down and laid his head in her lap. She spoke to him, calming him, telling him he must be patient for her. He breathed the sweet scent of her, and reached up to stroke her cheek more gently than was his wont. She smiled down brilliantly at him. "I love you," she whispered before disappearing into the mist, leaving him alone with the memory of her scent lingering on the air.  
  
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Alrighty then. Dreamtime! What thinkest thou? Hope you like! 


	15. A Day at Sea

Chapter 15: A Day at Sea  
  
Arianne stood on the deck, the sea breeze blowing strands of hair out of her long braid, the ship rocking beneath her sure feet. She was loving every second of this. Will stood next to her smiling, his hand resting lightly on hers. What could be better than this? she asked herself. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she squeezed tightly, then thought of ways to make it all even better. For starters, she wished Amos hadn't been the sole reason she had met Will (though, perversely she was grateful to him, if only for that); secondly, she wished that she was out here for the pleasure of it, rather than running away from something. She hated running away. Sighing, she leaned against Will, closing her eyes, feeling the salty spray hit her face, and putting all negative thoughts from her mind.  
Will had told her this morning that her wounds were looking much better already. They had been shallow, so they shouldn't take long to heal, and wouldn't leave much in the way of scars. She was glad there wouldn't be very noticeable scars. She didn't want Will to have to look at scars every time they made love.though they hadn't yet, and she dearly wanted to. She didn't even know if he felt the same way. For all she knew, he thought of her as a younger sister he'd never had, and only cared so tenderly for her because of that. She forced this thought from her mind as well.  
"Oy!" came the familiar voice.  
Turning around simultaneously, Will and Arianne saw Jack coming towards them. As comfortable as Arianne was at sea, she didn't think she could run across the rocking ship just yet.  
"Arianne, do ye think ye're up for a spot of climbing?" he asked.  
She shrugged. "I don't know, depends on what kind of climbing I'm going to have to do," she replied.  
"Can you climb up to the crow's nest and keep watch? The man that normally does it came down with a bit of cold, and he can't see anything when he has a cold."  
Arianne thought it over, and glanced sideways at Will. He smiled and nodded. "Alright, I'll do it," she said. Jack pointed out where it was she needed to go, and she walked away from Jack and Will at a leisurely pace. She considered trotting, but thought the better of it. She would be horribly embarrassed if she were to fall in front of the entire crew. Not to mention Will.  
  
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Will watched Arianne until she was out of sight. Turning to Jack, he said with a lifted eyebrow, "He's not sick."  
"Well, er.no," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
Will relented, smiling. "Thanks for giving her something to make her feel useful. Though I'd love to be with her all day, I fear she'd get rather bored."  
Jack smiled back. "I have a job for you too," he grinned evilly. Will looked warily at him. "Time to scrub the latrines, matey!"  
Will groaned. "You have to be joking, Jack," he started. Jack stopped him with a gesture.  
"The latrines don't clean themselves, you know!" Jack said and walked off, whistling jauntily.  
"He wouldn't make Arianne scrub the latrines," Will muttered with a long-suffering sigh, and went to work.  
  
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She stared up at the brilliant blue sky. She was going to be dreadfully burnt after this day, she knew it. Ah well. This was a perfect spot to see everything, albeit "everything" was a whole lot of water. They were already considerably far away from the shore, so far that Arianne couldn't even make out a dark line on the water that signified land. Seeing nothing but the water that waved a bit in the breeze, she looked down at the deck, trying to find Will. Not seeing him, she wondered where he was.  
She squashed the unreasoning panic that set her heart to jumping. Amos was nowhere near here. He was all the way back on the island. He couldn't hurt her here. Forcing herself to relax, she reasoned that perhaps Jack had found a job for Will to do as well. Honestly, Arianne didn't mind being up in the crow's nest at all. She was far enough above that she couldn't hear much of the noise from below, and she could think things through.  
Wind whipped her hair about her face, and she resolved to wear a scarf tightly about her head next time she came up here. Maybe Jack would have one to spare? Or maybe she could talk to the one other female crew member there was on board. She would have to ask Will for an introduction. Arianne realized she probably would want other female companionship every so often. All these men! Of course, she liked men (most of them, at any rate), but she loved Will, loved him with all her heart.  
Or did she really? she pondered. Could it possibly be that she thought she loved him because he was so different from all the other stuffed peacocks in the city? She shook her head. No, that couldn't be it. Jack was different too, even more dramatically so. She didn't feel so intensely about him, though she cared deeply for him as a friend. Sighing, Arianne took a quick look around, making sure there were no ships approaching. This done, she propped her elbows on the rim of the basket that was called the crow's nest.  
  
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The only thing that was getting Will through this hideous stench was his round cursing of Jack. He could cheerfully have throttled the man at the moment. Trying to breathe as little as possible, Will moved on to the next section, fantasizing about all the tortures he would love to visit upon Captain Jack Sparrow.  
  
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Eventually she noticed that there wasn't any noise except the noises of the ship, water leaping against the sides, and the wind blowing through the sails. There weren't any birds to be found. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen a bird all day. Then she felt rather dumb. What would birds be doing so far from land anyway? They didn't have much of anything to eat out here. Sure, seagulls and pelicans ate fish and such, but they never ventured so far out they wouldn't have a place to land or nest. She missed the birds.  
Sighing, she checked for more ships, and thought to check the sky as well. There was a small smudge of grey far in the distance, but it didn't seem to be approaching very quickly, if at all. So far, that was the first sign of anything ever since she'd been up here.  
Glancing at her shadow, Arianne realized it was likely early evening. She couldn't believe she'd been up here the whole afternoon! She winced, knowing how much her face and arms were going to hurt tonight. At least this was the worst of the burns. She wouldn't peel or blister much, the redness would simply fade to a nice shade of brown.  
A loud growl startled her for a moment until she realized that it was her stomach. She was absolutely starving. Sighing again, she wondered when exactly she would be relieved of duty so she could eat. In fact, she found herself concentrating more and more on the coming meal as she checked for bad weather and other ships.  
  
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Will finally finished. He was filthy. Growling to himself, he went and grabbed a bar of rough soap, and drew up some seawater to rid himself of at least some of the stink. He didn't want to go to bed tonight reeking of piss and shit, especially since he shared a cabin with Arianne.  
Jack came to him just as he'd dressed after scrubbing himself raw with the lye soap to rid himself of the stink. He still smelled it, and hoped it was simply just his imagination.  
"Grub time, matey," Jack said, winking at Will. Will just glared. "Would ye like to call Arianne down from the nest? She's like to be starving now," he said and moved on.  
  
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Just when she began to think she'd never be allowed to come down, Will poked his head through the little trapdoor and told her it was time for supper. At the look of relief on her face, he grinned. "Don't look at me like that, I had to clean out the latrines today!"  
Arianne made a face of disgust at him, and followed him down the ladder and to Jack's cabin, where they were to eat this evening. Upon their arrival, Jack beckoned for them to sit. They did, and Arianne was startled to see the anger in Will's expression as they sat. Then she remembered that he'd had to clean the latrines and understood. She hoped and prayed that she would never have to. After having been down there once or twice today, she'd made up her mind not to visit them more often than was absolutely necessary.  
  
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After a pleasant supper of a surprisingly delicious beef stew, Will and Arianne retired to their cabin, exhausted. Upon entering, Arianne started laughing. Will stared at her, confused, and she slowly got herself under control, though she couldn't seem to stop smiling. "What is it?" he asked.  
"N-nothing," she said, choking down the laughter that bubbled up inside her again.  
"No, really, tell me!"  
"He made you clean the latrines," she said and was lost in a fit of giggles. Will glowered at her for a few moments, but eventually started smiling as she laid on one of the beds, breathless and clutching her ribs.  
"Does it hurt?" he asked Arianne as she lay there panting.  
"I'll live," she replied.  
"I think we should change the bandages again and put some more of that salve on there, what do you think?" he asked, knowing she was covering up more than she let on.  
"Oh that would be heavenly!" she replied, relief evident in her voice.  
  
Later, they lay on their respective beds, talking to each other a bit before they went to sleep. Will was just drifting off when Arianne said, "Will?"  
"Hrmm?" he mumbled sleepily.  
"I love you," she whispered so softly he almost didn't catch it. But then it didn't matter, because he was deeply asleep.  
  
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Alright, I hope this makes up for the last chapter.upon further reflection I decided I hated that chapter. -.-' 


	16. His Lies

Chapter 16: His Lies  
  
While Arianne and Will were standing together on the Black Pearl, Amos woke up in his own bed. A servant that had obviously been waiting for just this moment bolted from the room. As he was clearing the cobwebs of sleep from his mind, his father walked in with his mother trailing behind him with a platter of breakfast. It smelled wonderful. But first, he thought calculatingly, he must blurt out his story. "Father! Arianne! She's been kidnapped!"  
Arthur looked at Amos blankly. "Kidnapped? What on earth are you talking about?" One look at Amos' frantic, wild-eyed expression alarmed Arthur visibly. Inwardly, Amos smiled to himself. "Calm down, son. Just calm down and tell me the whole story."  
Amos took a deep breath, appearing to force himself into a calmer state, and began in a reasonable tone of voice. "Well, I was on my way home, walking past the two blacksmith's shops, when I heard a woman crying in the alley. There were dull thudding sounds, too, and so I went to see what was going on, to help if I could. Well, it was dark in the alley, but I could just make out two shapes as I entered the alleyway kicking at something, and I still heard that sobbing noise. I snuck up on them. "One of them looked remarkably like Jack Sparrow--you know, the infamous pirate that escaped about a year ago-and the other one was Will Turner." At Arthur's raised eyebrow, he amended, "Alright, so I couldn't quite tell who he was, I'll admit, but who else would be consorting with pirates?" Arthur nodded, his mouth set in a grim line and Amos continued. "Anyway, I must have made some sort of noise, because the pirate turned, nudged his partner, and then he turned towards me as well. The next thing I knew, I was laying in that same alley, alone and the pain of these wounds was surprisingly staggering. But I got up anyway, and found a scrap of deep blue cloth, and I remembered that Arianne had been wearing a dress of just that color-I saw her when she took her morning walk this morning, but our conversation was interrupted by that horrid Jack Sparrow and Will Turner. "I knew then that it had to have been Jack and Will that did this unspeakable act. The woman they had been beating so brutally must have been Arianne." Here his voice caught in what sounded like a sob, but he was really choking down laughter. Amos looked up at his father, who appeared to be very thoughtful. For a moment, Amos panicked, thinking that Arthur wouldn't believe him, but was relieved when he nodded. As he turned to leave, Amos called out to him, "Father? I thought Arianne was meeting with Sir James today. How did she come to be in the alley that late in the afternoon?" Arthur turned, a scowl on his face. "She climbed out her bedroom window," he said curtly, and exited the room quickly. His mother, left standing there with the breakfast platter, smiled at him with barely concealed hatred and disbelief in her eyes. She gave him his breakfast tray, put his servant's bell near enough that he could reach it, and left the room without a word. He stared after her. She didn't believe a word of his story, therefore she was dangerous. How could he silence her?  
  
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Amara returned to her room, furious that the little prig could fabricate things like this. She knew it hadn't been Will and Jack beating her. It had almost definitely been Amos himself, and Will and Jack had rescued her and taken her someplace safe. She thought she knew where that safe place was. Sitting at her desk, she drew out a piece of paper and a pen and began her letter.  
As soon as she was finished, she handed it off to Katie, asking her to deliver it as soon as possible. She would find out what had really happened to her daughter. Preferably from Arianne personally.  
  
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Elizabeth looked out the window that morning and wondered where Jack was right at that moment, wondered if he thought of her. How was Will doing? And the girl, Arianne? Shrugging, she went about her daily regimen.  
  
Later in the afternoon, a knocking interrupted her reading. She waited for the servants to answer the door. It didn't take long before a maid came to the parlor, wide-eyed with fear. "Ma'am, it's.it's the police! They want to know where Master Will is!" Ah, well. She had known it would happen, she just hadn't expected it to be so soon. She calmly sent the maid to do what she had formerly been doing, and went down to the door unescorted.  
She nodded her head to the policeman that stood just inside the doorway, and he tipped his hat to her. "And what can I do for you, sir?"  
"Ah, yes," he started nervously. He must be new, she thought with an inward smile. "Well, I'm here to arrest your husband, ma'am, and I was wondering if you could tell me of his whereabouts?"  
"On what charges are you arresting my husband?" she asked with a lifted brow.  
"Brutality and kidnapping," he stated baldly.  
"Brutality?" she repeated, puzzled.  
"Why, yes ma'am! Yesterday in the afternoon he and the pirate Jack Sparrow were seen to be brutally beating a young woman in the alley between your husband's shop and the next one. Then they kidnapped her. An.Arianne Bailey, I believe," he said, consulting a paper in his hand.  
"Who was the witness?" She asked more sharply than she intended.  
"Arthur Bailey's son, Amos." The officer fidgeted a bit, then asked, "So, er.is your husband about, then?"  
"No, he left on a trip yesterday," she said, plastering a pleasant expression on her face. "As he's not here, sir, I bid you good day and good luck finding the criminals." She ushered him out and left him standing on the stoop, unsure what to do next.  
Her mind was racing as she made her way towards the parlor. This was more than a trifle unexpected, she thought. Brutality? That Amos.she remembered him. He had given her the chills in spite of his courtly manner. Something about his eyes.  
She was continuing on this train when one of the maids stopped her, an unfamiliar servant standing slightly behind her. "Ma'am, a message for you from Lady Amara Bailey," she said.  
Blinking, Elizabeth took the letter from what must be Amara's maid, and read: Elizabeth,  
I request your company this afternoon for tea and intelligent conversation. I believe we have much to speak of, and hope to see you then.  
  
~Amara~  
  
So Amara was inviting her for tea. Would this day full of unexpected things never end? She sighed and sent Amara's maid back with a message of assent before going to ready herself for an outing.  
  
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When Katie returned, giving Amara the slip of paper with a single sentence of assent written on it, Amara ordered her to ready tea and cookies for her guest's arrival, and to bring them to her own quarters when her guest did appear. Sighing, she sat down to await Elizabeth's arrival.  
  
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Elizabeth knocked upon the door of the Bailey house and waited. She didn't have long, for shortly the door was opened by the same maid as had delivered the message to her own home. She smiled at the girl, and followed her through the house to the door of what must be Amara's suite.  
The girl bowed to her, and said, "My lady bids you welcome," before scampering off. Elizabeth knocked on the door, and a woman with beautiful golden hair opened it. Elizabeth knew where Arianne had gotten that aspect, but other than that she saw very little in the way of resemblance. Amara was short, very short, and incredibly thin. Elizabeth briefly wondered how Amara had survived birthing Arianne as Amara led her into the solar of her suite.  
"What do you know of my daughter?" Amara said bluntly. Indeed, it was more of a statement than a question.  
A bit surprised, Elizabeth said, "I know that she is somewhere at sea on the Black Pearl with my husband and the esteemed captain of the ship, that her brother beat her nigh 'til she broke, and that Will is hopelessly in love with her."  
Amara stared at her, as if trying to decide whether she was telling the truth or not. Apparently satisfied, she gestured to a tray of tea and cookies sitting on a table that Elizabeth had not previously noticed, and proceeded to serve them both.  
"Then my son is lying. I had thought so," Amara stated forlornly. "I don't know why he is the way he is, and I am rather ashamed that I birthed such a monster."  
Elizabeth wisely concealed her shock that Amara had survived the labor of two children with the act of biting into a cookie. Amara continued with a story of Arianne and Amos when they were children, and when she had lost any control she might have had when Amos gained greater strength than she.  
Elizabeth was shocked at the monstrosity that was Amos. "Lord above, am I glad I did not accept his suit of marriage!"  
"But now what are we to do?" she queried.  
  
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AHH! I'm not dead! I'm so sorry that took so long! -.-' The next chapter definitely will not take so long to post, I promise! Thank you for being patient with me! 


	17. Time Passes

Chapter 17: Time passes.  
  
Two glorious weeks had passed. All of Arianne's wounds had healed, as had most of her bruises, and those that hadn't were barely noticeable on her newly tanned skin. She regularly sat watch in the crow's nest now, and she had acquired a respectable tan. The sun bleached her burnished gold hair to a brighter gold, and her blue eyes shone with health and happiness where before they had held only fear and pain.  
There was one slight problem, however. Will had yet to make the slightest sign that he was attracted to her physically. As happy as she was, this threw a dark shadow over all of the good things. The times she had a chance to really talk to him, she couldn't bring herself to tell him how she felt, or to ask him how he felt about her. Being in the same cabin as he only made her ache all the more. The only time she didn't hurt inside when she was with him was when they were sparring.  
  
The clash of metal on metal rang out on the deck that bright morning. Arianne reveled in the feel of the sword in her hand, the sun beating down and making both her and her partner work up a sweat. As it was, she couldn't help but admire him. As he had been sparring with her for the better part of an hour, his hair had slowly come undone from its ponytail, and tendrils were plastered to his forehead with sweat.  
"You're distracted! Concentrate!" he said breathlessly as he slapped her leg with the flat of his blade. In truth, he had much more difficulty scoring hits on her now that she was near his own skill (which had admittedly dropped as he had more and more work to do at the shop).  
Seeing the opening he had left as he went in to hit her, she took advantage of it and scored her very first hit. She crowed with delight as he dropped his sword, cursing at the pain in his right wrist. He stopped short when she held the tip of her blade under his chin.  
"Yield?" she asked, still grinning.  
  
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He looked up at her, shocked that she had defeated him. Not only had she done so, she did it while he remonstrated her for not concentrating! He wasn't angry, however, because he'd been beaten fairly and was man enough to know it. Also, how could he be angry when she was so happy? She had progressed very well indeed these past two weeks, especially since she could move more freely now that most of the bruises and all the cuts were gone. He was proud of her, and tried to make sure she knew it.  
"Well?" she asked impatiently, her eyes still sparkling with glee.  
"I yield!" he said laughingly, and she took the blade away from his throat. "Great job on that, by the way, hitting me when I was concentrating least!"  
She beamed, pushing stray bits of hair away from her sweaty face. He stared at her in admiration and with more than a little lust in his heart. It was so hard to hold himself back, it had been what seemed like forever since he had had a woman, but it was different with her. She was willing to get her hands dirty and take her share of the work more often than not, and when she didn't, it was because she was overly exhausted and not just because she didn't want to. She seemed glad to take her share of the work on the ship. Also, she was willing to speak her mind more than Elizabeth ever had. She had relaxed more as the days passed, and he knew she would never willingly go back to being the ladylike woman she had been back in Port Royal.  
She seemed not to notice his stare as she cleaned her sword and stuck it through the blue sash wrapped around her waist, and trotted off with a smile and wave of farewell to take her shift in the nest.  
He watched her go, and then shook himself out of it and cleaned his own blade before putting it away. As he didn't have any work to do for another couple hours, he went off to find Jack, who had fortunately (though whether it was fortunate for Will or Jack would be hard to say) decided not to make Will clean the latrines again.  
  
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Arianne stood in the nest, checking to make sure nothing was closing in on them, be it ships or ominous clouds. She had learned the hard way that a storm quite a ways off could be on them in a matter of minutes. Luckily she had only had to weather three squalls, and those had apparently been nothing to some of the storms the rest of the crew had seen. During the first of these, she had been very, very violently sick. It had seemed that anything she had eaten back to when she was five years old had revisited her. After that, she had slept for a good fourteen hours. The next time she weathered it slightly better, though she was still sick, and the one after that she hadn't been sick at all.  
Seeing nothing-not even the wispy clouds that painted the very highest point of the sky-she relaxed a little and went into her state of thought. This job was wonderful for one who had much to think about. She was so very thrilled that she had finally scored on Will. Not only had she scored on him, but she had actually beaten him! She smiled widely. She had been afraid at first that Will would have been angry with her, but instead he had smiled and congratulated her. If only he would smile and say he loved her, life would be perfect.  
Unwittingly, she fell into a fantasy where Will took her into his arms and kissed her passionately, and then.well, better not to think of "then," she thought to herself and sighed forlornly. It wouldn't happen unless she tricked him into it, it seemed. But how could she do that? She racked her brain and came up with one name: Jack. Jack would help her. He had already helped her greatly by practicing sword work with her after her shifts in the nest while Will did whatever he had been assigned. She was grateful to Jack for scheduling Will for work right after she was replaced. He had done that at her request. She owed so much to Jack, and had no idea how she could possibly repay him.  
Idly, she wondered what Will was like when he was drunk. Was he one of those whose tongue and inhibitions loosened? She decided to ask for a couple flasks of rum from Jack. She knew only too well that he had plenty of booze. He didn't seem able to survive without it, and rarely got drunk no matter how much he imbibed. Will, however.he didn't drink much, she knew this. She grinned, hoping that this would work.  
  
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Jack laughed uproariously when Arianne told him of her plan. He gladly obliged, even gave her three flasks. He knew that Will seemed to be having difficulties getting over the fact that he was still married, even if he and Elizabeth had agreed that it was alright, and he knew that Will was being terribly tortured by Arianne's close presence in the cabin with him. Jack hadn't expected that Will would be quite so virtuous, had in fact hoped that he wouldn't be, due to Arianne's being ready and willing to be everything he would ever want. Will loved Arianne, Arianne loved will, and he had expected that the expected would have happened by now.  
He told Arianne that Will became very relaxed when he was drunk, and she would likely be able to get anything out of him. He also warned her to be careful how much she drank, as she had never really drunk much alcohol in her life. If she got Will thoroughly inebriated, he would open up to her, it was a sure thing. He told her that they should also take dinner in their own cabin this evening; it would be easier to get him to start drinking that way.  
As she left to make the preparations, Jack smiled to himself. Now that was a girl who knew what she wanted and would do what it took to get it. He was half in love with her himself, but knew he couldn't do anything about it. She was Will's. He would have to settle for the only other woman that would take him for who he was, the one he had wanted ever since a certain island escapade... He was so tired of the one-night stands, the slaps he received every time he went into a city. He was so tired of being alone.  
  
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AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Will Arianne's plan work?! Will Will finally succumb to his desires?! Find out! On the next episode of Arianne! Or not, who knows? I might write about what's going on back with Elizabeth! *breaks into evil laughter* *chokes on saliva* *dies* 


	18. Never Again

Chapter 18: Never Again  
  
Elizabeth was at her wits' end. Her father wasn't helping matters. He had come over every day for the past week and a half to ask if she needed anything and to look disapprovingly at her, as if to say "I told you so." Also, her former affianced kept appearing at her door to offer his condolences. Not only that, but he was still unmarried and was apparently hoping she would now turn to him. He also made some odd comment about taking care of her child as if it was his own...  
This was driving her insane. She longed to scream at everyone, to make them hear her when she said that Will had not kidnapped anyone, he had taken her away of her own consent away from the real danger that was her brother. She had tried repeatedly to tell people what he had done, but no one would believe her. It didn't help that Amos acted so convincingly. How scum like that could possibly come off as utterly charming was beyond her.  
Right now she was sitting at the desk with a pen in her hand and a paper in front of her, yet she was writing nothing. Instead, she repeatedly jabbed the pen into the paper, which was now full of holes, and imprints were starting to appear on the desk. She couldn't take it. How on earth was she supposed to make people believe her when she was taken to be the wife in denial of her husband's criminal ways?  
Nothing was going right. She hadn't spoken to Amara lately, either. Her missives had gone unanswered. If only she could make someone listen to her...  
"Ma'am? The commodore is at the door, wishing to speak with you," came a quiet voice from the doorway.  
It was a sign from heaven. She abandoned her jabbing of the paper and desk and ran in a most unseemly way to the door.  
  
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Amara was worried. She had heard nothing from Elizabeth since the first time they had gotten together. She had sent letters, but nothing had come back. To make matters worse, Arthur had expressly ordered her to stay within the house at all times unless he chose to take her out with him. She was chafing under the restrictions. Things like this had never bothered her before, but now it was different. She had to help clear Will and Jack's names while implicating Amos, but how could she do it when she was under house arrest?  
She took to pacing. Pacing seemed to be all she did lately, her thoughts running the same path incessantly. Why had Elizabeth not replied? Had she even gotten the letters? Amara had sent one every day, but nothing had come back. She didn't even have the use of Katie anymore, she had been fired by Arthur because Amos complained that she had burned his toast. Now she had a maid that was too shy to even look at her, and so far all of her efforts to befriend the girl had gone unrewarded.  
She had to get out. The imprisonment was just too much, but how could she escape?  
  
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Ecstatic, Amos did a mental jump for joy. Most of his minor wounds (nearly all of them self-inflicted) had healed, and now he put all of his effort into two things: discrediting Elizabeth, and intercepting all messages between the two. He was slightly infuriated by the latter. They had been so very careful not to say anything of Arianne, only of the wish to see each other and perhaps have tea.  
He had convinced his father not to let Amara out alone, as she was obviously very upset about her daughter's abduction. And that wretched maid, whatever her name was, he had gotten fired, so his mother was without allies. The maid that had been hired was fully under his control, in more than one way, he thought satisfactorily. She was too afraid of him to do anything against his wishes, unlike Arianne, and she satisfied his sadistic and other base desires well.  
Fear suited him nicely, yes indeed. Grinning wickedly, he left the house to go to the police headquarters in order to see whether or not they had found his dear, dear sister.  
  
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She watched him leave, cowering in a dark corner and praying he wouldn't see her. She couldn't stand any more of his beatings, couldn't live with how he had defiled her. He had made her take letters addressed to a Mrs. Turner to him, and not only letters to Mrs. Turner, but from her as well. She didn't quite understand why he would want these, but she knew it couldn't be for any good purpose. This would end today.  
Making sure he was well and gone, she went into his room and found the letters. She took all of them to the Lady Amara's room and slipped them under the door. She had nothing against Lady Amara, who had only treated her with kindness, and sought to help her in any way that she could.  
She hurried away before the lady could open the door and catch her there, hurried to the cellar, where she had hidden a stash of rope. He would never defile her again. After tying the rope to a rafter, she tied it around her neck.  
No, he would never touch her again.  
  
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About when the girl was hanging herself, Amara picked up the envelopes that had been stuffed under her door. There were several of them. Half of them she recognized immediately. Her own missives sent to Elizabeth. The other half were...they were letters from Elizabeth! All of them opened, no less. So she had replied! Well, no, she corrected herself. She hadn't replied. None of Amara's letters had left the house.  
Sighing, she sat down and began to read.  
  
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"Do you understand?" she asked, looking at him pleadingly.  
Norrington sighed, knowing it had been too much to hope for that she had so passionately pulled him inside the house. She was only defending her husband. "I understand what you're saying, but I don't understand where this outrageous story came from!"  
She was on the verge of tears, he could see it. "Will did nothing wrong! Why can't you understand?! Jack and Will heard strange sounds coming from the alley next to Will's shop. They went to investigate. Amos Bailey was brutally beating Arianne Bailey, who seemed to be unconscious at the time. Will and Jack DID knock him out, but inflicted no other wounds upon him, and they took Arianne inside the shop and cleaned her up. THEN they brought her here, and did the only thing they could do to take her away from the danger, of her own free will! I saw the bruises! I know she was not afraid when she was here, and doesn't that say something?"  
This tirade made him stare blankly at her for a few moments. She was telling the truth, he felt it in his gut. He sighed. "Alright, Elizabeth, I believe you." This made her stop short. He took advantage of her quiet and asked, "What do you want me to do about it?"  
"I want you to talk to people, make them believe! No one will listen to me. My husband and Jack Sparrow are not criminals! Amos Bailey is the criminal!"  
Before she got started again, Norrington stopped her with, "What makes you think anyone will believe me? Everyone knows I have feelings for you--" Then it dawned on him. "It's because I have feelings for you, isn't it?"  
She nodded. "Yes, it is, people will believe you because you don't WANT me to have my husband back, but you're such an honorable man you can't bear lie. You would rather have me fair and square, correct?"  
He nodded helplessly.  
She smiled and led him out the door.  
  
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	19. Yo ho ho, and a Bottle of Rum

Chapter 19: Yo ho ho, and a Bottle of Rum  
  
Arianne put the flasks of rum underneath her bunk to be brought out after supper. After doing this, she washed her body and even her hair. Normally she didn't wash her hair more than once a week due to freshwater rationing, but tonight was going to be special. When she was clean, she pulled out what she had bought in one of the cities they had docked in. It was a diaphanous white gown with long sleeves that clung to the torso and flowed nicely around her legs when she walked. It was nice to have money of her own to spend as she wished. Jack paid his crew well with the treasures of the secret grotto.  
Once into the dress, she brushed out her hair, which seemed to have grown a couple inches since she'd been on the boat, and decided to leave it down. Finally, she put on the finishing touch: a dab of rose perfume for her wrists and throat. She smiled. Tonight, Will would be hers.  
  
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"Will!" Jack called out. Will stopped, leaning on his mop, and watched Jack approach with a man named Gil following in his wake. "I'm givin' ye a break, Will, Gil here will finish up."  
Will stared at Jack warily, wondering what he was up to this time. Wordlessly, he followed Jack to his cabin, where Jack promptly pointed out the water basin, soap, and a fresh set of clothes. "Ye'll be taking dinner in her cabin with Arianne, and I expect you to look like a gentleman!" he explained with a knowing smile and a wink. "And wash your hair, too!" he ordered. With a jaunty wave, he left Will alone in the cabin.  
He groaned. Jack was trying to throw him at Arianne, and as much as he would like to crash into her as a wave of fiery passion, he just couldn't do it. He had made a mistake before, and wouldn't do it again. He just had to be sure she loved him like he loved her.  
God, what if she only loved him as a brother? That whispered statement so long ago could have meant anything. He sighed, not knowing what he would do if she really did only love him in a platonic manner.Sighing again, he told himself he would just have to wait and see.  
  
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Jack stepped away from the door once he heard water splash (though how he could tell that from the splash of water against the hull was unknown) and headed for Arianne's cabin. When he knocked, she opened the door so fast he almost fell into her. Regaining his balance, he got a good look at her and whistled. He thought she looked even lovelier in the simple gown than she had in any of the complex confections. The white against her tanned skin, the golden waterfall that was her hair, the brilliant blue eyes, she looked rather fey, like a fairy queen.  
"If you don't succeed tonight," he started, "by God I'll kill him myself!"  
She blushed a deep crimson. Jack grinned at her embarrassment. "Will's bathing himself, under my orders, and he's not clean until every speck of dirt is out from under his fingernails!" he said with a wink. She smiled and nodded a bit nervously. "Don't worry abut a thing, love, this has to work," and with that he was off.  
Just before he turned the corner, he heard a "thank you" called out to him.  
  
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She paced about the room. It seemed like it had been forever since Jack had come and gone, and her nerves were beginning to get the best of her. What if it didn't work? What if she got him drunk only to find that he was in love with someone else? She was going mad, she knew it. However, not knowing was driving her positively batty. For better or worse, she would find out tonight.  
  
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Will did his best to make himself look good, in spite of his doubts about what was going to happen. When he heard Jack call out from the other side of the door, he went and opened it for him.  
"Alright, looking good, Will!" Jack said, grinning. "Let me look at yer hands..." and without any warning, he grabbed Will's hands and examined them thoroughly for any speck of dirt, so he supposed. Finally Jack nodded and loosed him, and sent him on his way back to his own cabin.  
Reaching the door, he took a deep breath and stood there for a minute, composing himself. He ran a hand through his hair, which he had left out of its customary ponytail, and opened the door. She turned around and he felt as though he had been punched in the gut. The white dress set off her skin, and her eyes seemed to sparkle. Her hair hung just to her thighs, and had a gentle wave to it. He longed immediately to touch it.  
"Hello," she said, smiling. Her voice had a certain quaver in it that told him she was nervous. He smiled reassuringly, but inwardly he roiled with tension. He no longer had any doubt about what was going on tonight, but he wasn't sure if this was good or bad. He wanted her, and now he was fairly sure that she wanted him as well. He sighed inwardly. He didn't know if he was ready for this, he thought as they sat down and slipped into an awkward silence.  
  
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She had been satisfied with his reaction to her dress, and in fact had been more than satisfied with how he looked as well, but now they were trapped in the doldrums of awkward silence. She had to do something, she didn't know how much longer she could take it, so she reached under her bunk and brought out one of the flasks of rum. "Want a drink to while away the time?" she asked with a nervous smile. He nodded, just as nervous as she was, and she poured them both full cups of rum.  
"To Jack Sparrow and his conspiracies!" Will toasted. Arianne laughed, and they drank, probably a little deeper than required. The rest of the rum in the cups followed, and they refilled.  
Finally feeling more at ease, conversation flowed. Arianne remembered Jack's warning and only sipped lightly after that first glass. She already felt a little light and buzzy. Will, apparently, felt more than a little light and buzzy. He was the most animated she had ever seen him, and he ranged from topic to topic like a nomad, never staying long in one place. They didn't even notice the light knock on the door signaling that dinner had arrived. Will was in the middle of describing the adventure retrieving the Black Pearl and Elizabeth, acting out the battles with her brush (which she assumed was supposed to be his sword).  
As Will drank down his fourth cup, she still on her second, she gathered up her courage and asked, "How do you feel about me?"  
  
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"How do you feel about me?" she asked, and the pleasant warmth that filled him from the liquor deserted him. He finished the cup and refilled it, drinking deeply again to bring back some vestige of the warmth while trying to think of an answer.  
"Well," he started, and stopped. "Well," he started again, this time continuing, "I think you are very charming, and beautiful, and intensely alluring, and I hold very much love--and quite a bit of lust--in my heart for you." He slapped himself mentally. That did NOT come out right. He had only meant to say that she was charming and beautiful and any man would be a fool not to love her.  
The look on her face, one of amusement, relaxed some of the mortification a bit, and he apologized. She laughingly accepted, holding up her cup for another toast.  
"To liquor, and the secrets it reveals!"  
He lifted his cup to that as well and they drank again.  
  
Later, she was talking about something--he wasn't quite sure what it was, as his concentration was on the movement of her lips rather than the sound that came forth from them. "You're beautiful," he said. She stopped mid-sentence and looked at him.  
By this time they were both laying on the bed, she on her back with her legs dangling off the edge, he on his side staring at her, the second flask of rum completely empty beside them. They had stopped drinking, and were now reveling in the feeling of being heartily drunk.  
She was staring at him, still. His mind felt clearer than it had for hours, and he poured out, "I love you, Arianne. Will you marry me?"  
  
*********************************************************************** Hehehe! Oh I'm having fun! Hope I haven't ticked you all off too much!!!!!!!! 


	20. The Waves of Passion

Chapter 20: I Can't Do This  
  
Before she could say a word, his lips were on hers, warm, insistent, and she was kissing him back, her fingers running through his hair. As they were locked in this passionate embrace, her mind screamed at her that this wasn't right, this was not the time. Hard as her body tried to drown it out, it insisted on being heard.  
His proposal came of drunkenness, might not his claim of love come from the same source? Did she really want to give her body to someone that may not truly love her? She told her conscience that his proposal was unprecedented.but he did love her, she knew this much to be true. His statement of love rang utterly true in her heart and soul. He had meant it, in spite of (or perhaps because of?) his inebriation. The voice settled down, seemingly satisfied for now, and she realized that his fingers were tracing the neckline of her dress softly, sending little shocks through her body as he touched her. His lips left hers and traced warm kisses down her neck and explored where his fingers had been as they now slipped the sleeve from her shoulder and down so one of her breasts was exposed. She sighed as his fingertips brushed across the sensitive skin of her nipple.  
  
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He was in heaven. Her warm moist lips on his, her fingers entangled in his hair, he had dreamed of this for what had seemed like forever. For once his conscience remained silent, its insidious feelings of foreboding absent as his body experienced such joy as he had never felt before. Elizabeth had not been able to elicit these responses in him so quickly as Arianne did with a simple touch of her hand, no matter how far from the physical evidence of his burning desire they may be.  
He kissed down her neck, where the scent of roses filled his nostrils and made his head light. He trailed the kisses down furthere, kissing around the neckline of her dress as he slipped a sleeve over her shoulder to reveal what he had seen once before and had longed to touch ever since. When his fingers brushed the sensitive nipple, he heard a sigh of pleasure that made him fear he would disgrace himself and release right then. He bit his lip and moved so his mouth hovered over her breast, his fingers tracing around the nipple. He imagined how she would taste, could almost feel it, before lowering and gently touching the tip of his tongue to her nipple, which had grown hard in response to her desire.  
He took the whole of her nipple into his mouth and massaged it with his lips and his tongue, reveling in the taste of her skin. Ai God, if he didn't stop soon he never would.  
  
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She rode on waves of pleasure so intense she feared that at any moment she would slip under and drown. He was doing the most wonderful things to her, she never wanted him to stop, and when his mouth left her breast she missed it immediately, so much so that she groaned a bit in frustration. He smiled down at her, his fingers absently tracing the delicate lines of her lips.  
"Arianne," he whispered. She heard the desire in his voice and wondered why he held back. "Arianne, I can't do this," he said, the words she had most dreaded spilling from his lips.  
She put her fingers to his lips to stop him, saw tears in his eyes.  
  
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"Will, I want this," she said, her need burning in her beautiful eyes, making them seem to glow in the darkness. It wasn't until that moment that he realized that the lamp had gone out. "Please," she whispered softly, her voice begging him.  
  
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He laid his head upon her chest, which was exposed fully to the air, and she felt him nod. He pulled her up to stand then, and tried to undo the stays on the back of her dress, failing miserably. She smiled and undid them herself. He slid the dress off of her body, letting it fall in a pool around her feet. She reached to him and pulled his shirt off of him and admired his torso in the moonlight that filtered through their little window, noticing he was doing the same to her nearly naked body.  
When his pants and underwear were gone, she was surprised at what she saw. She hadn't had any idea what arousal might look like, or how sex even worked, but somehow, now that she saw him in all his glory, it made sense and was even beautiful.  
  
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She was beautiful. He took her into his arms, reveling in the warmth of her body. He had never realized how short and thin she was. Her head only came up to the top of his chest, making him press against her stomach in what was probably an uncomfortable way. He tried to step back a bit, but she held on tightly and he marveled at the strength of her grip.  
He bit his lip. It was so hard not to just take her and be finished with it, but he knew she was untouched and that it would hurt her. He resolved to be as gentle with her as his desire would allow.  
She shivered as he trailed his fingers down her spine, coming to a stop at her undergarment. "Are you sure?" he whispered hoarsely.  
  
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"Are you sure?" he whispered hoarsely into her ear. She could have cheerfully throttled him at that moment, but instead she let go of him and slid her hand down over his chest and stomach, coming to rest upon what his body told her wanted the most attention. She felt his body tense as he swallowed hard. He took her by surprise and pushed her onto the bed, where she lay breathless as he stood over her.  
He laid down next to her, trembling, and she knew it was taking a lot of effort to remain under control as he slid her underwear down over her legs and threw them to the side. Before she knew quite what was happening, he was on top of her, his legs lying between her own, his arousal pressed against her.  
  
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He looked down at her face, restraining himself from thrusting as he so dearly wanted to do. "Are you sure?" he asked once more. She responded by moving her hips so she rubbed against him and he groaned, nearly losing himself then. With utmost care, he pressed against her until he was inside her a little ways, and when she made no gasp of pain, began sliding himself in and out, putting a little more of himself in each time until he came up against her maidenhead.  
Biting his lip because he knew that this was going to hurt, he thrust harder and broke through. Hearing her sharp intake of breath and feeling her fingers dig into his back, he stayed still for a moment until she insistently moved her hips, and he gave in to her desires, doing his best to hold back until she had taken her satisfaction.  
The pressure built up more and more until he felt he would not be able to hold on. When she called his name, her voice brilliant with ecstacy, he couldn't resist any longer. He released himself into her.  
  
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He collapsed, and she feared she would be crushed beneath his weight. When that didn't happen, she realized he had braced his arms on either side of her. His head hung next to her neck, his warm breath making her skin moist. She rubbed her hands up and down his back, loving the feel of his body so close to hers, of him being inside her still. She sighed happily and kissed his shoulder.  
He lifted himself up then, and asked, "God, Arianne are you alright?" She could see the concern in his eyes. She simply smiled and reached up to trace his lips with her fingers. He sighed in relief, and slowly pulled out of her. She missed him immediately. He got off the bed and pulled on his underwear and pants, then laid back down beside her, cradling her in his arms. She snuggled into him appreciatively.  
She was so very happy she thought she would never sleep, and yet somehow it dragged her down into its depths anyway.  
  
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Haha! Ok, this is the very first sex chapter I have ever written.let me know what you think, and I hope you liked it! 


	21. Escape

Chapter 21: Escape  
  
He chased her down into the cellar where she stopped with a gasp. He immediately grabbed onto her and began fondling and kissing her. When she remained rigid and unresponsive to his touch, he looked up and had to choke back bile. "Ye gods!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Tell me one more time what happened," Amos said coldly, glaring at the man before him.  
"W-we were coming down here to get some more vegetables," he stuttered. He was obviously terrified, which suited Amos just fine. "When we got down here.she-she was just hanging there like-like that."  
"Thank you very much, Mortin, that will be all," came the kindly voice of Amara. The man immediately bolted, much to Amos' frustration.  
"Mother," he began, turning to her, "Is it really wise-"  
"He was frightened, there was no more to be gotten out of him," she said sharply, color rising in her cheeks as she darted daggers at him with her stare. This was not the Amara he knew, the scared yet crafty little woman who had feared him since his early teens. This, of course, only infuriated him even more. This day was not going well, not at all. First, he had indeed gone to see how the investigation was going. He had found that Elizabeth was finally being listened to-at least somewhat-and the consensus was that Arianne had been taken of her own will. They were now letting the case rest until his darling sister should return and tell her tale of why she left so abruptly- and on a pirate ship, no less. Second, he had come home, was unable to find the nameless one he had so recently hired, only to discover that she had hanged herself in the cellar. Third, shortly before he had even bothered to search for the girl he had found that his intercepted letters were missing. He was near to pulling out his hair, but somehow maintained an outward calm as best as he could. Now, his mother-whom he had thought to be wrapped around his finger-was staring at him with fire in her eyes. He had a feeling he knew where those letters had gone and who had delivered them. He wished she wasn't quite so thoroughly dead-he would have sent her there in much more pain than she allowed herself.  
  
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Amara was horrified that the shy little servant girl she had only known perhaps a week and a half had hanged herself. But first she had given Amara the key to the mystery of Elizabeth's "silence." Amara sent a silent prayer to God beseeching his mercy upon the girl's tortured soul.  
After dismissing the horrified manservant, she rounded on Amos. The fury barely hidden behind his eyes didn't deter her own anger one bit, and she got right to the point. "You stole my letters, you intercepted letters from an acquaintance of mine, you have succeeded in isolating me from all life outside of this house, and finally you have killed a maidservant."  
His face turned a deep shade of red as he began to deny the accusations, but she held a hand up and stopped him. "Don't even bother. You are the most disgusting human being I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and your lies and torturous sadism will no longer be tolerated by me."  
With that, she turned her back upon him and returned to her room that she now liked to think of as her jail cell. Following her up the cellar stair was the sound of maniacal laughter that sent chills up her spine. She had to get out.  
  
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He laughed until his sides began to hurt. It was just too much. His sister escaping his grasp, the nameless girl hanging herself, his mother becoming assertive; it was almost more than he could handle. Some small part of him recognized that he had snapped beyond the point of return to sanity. He would get the whore that was his mother and his cowardly sister back under his control. While he was at it, he would gather Elizabeth into his clutches as well. He was filled with a dark mirth as the maniacal laughter finally faded. What was rightfully his would return once more.  
  
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When she returned to her room, she considered taking a leaf from Arianne's book and knotting sheets and such together to make a rope, but thought better of this as she had never done any climbing of any kind. She sighed. She decided to be realistic with herself in that she was in no kind of shape to be doing anything of such physical exertion. She had no muscle on her tiny frame.  
"Madam," came the voice of one of the maids. She sat straight up as the idea hit her. "Is there anything you need?" Claire asked.  
"Yes, Claire," Amara said as she turned to her with a large smile on her face. "You can bring me one of the maids' uniforms that would fit me best."  
Claire stared at her with a puzzled look on her face, but did as she was asked. When she returned, Amara dismissed her, saying that she would return it when she was finished. Claire looked back one last time, her face still a wreath of befuddlement, and closed the door behind her.  
  
Later, an unknown maidservant left Amara's chambers and left the mansion through the servants' passage. No one noticed her amidst the busy preparations for the evening meal.  
  
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"Sir?"  
"Yes?" he replied, not even bothering to open his eyes.  
"It's Claire, sir, she says that the lady asked her for a maid's uniform," the man said nervously, fearing Amos' anger-and rightfully so.  
"And I should care why? Perhaps she wished to mend it."  
"Sir, she requested one closest to her size.and the uniform had nothing wrong with it."  
Amos opened his eyes at that as his mind ticked to life. "Thank you," was all he said, and the man left with relief written all over his face and posture. "So," he said to himself when he was alone, "she's trying to escape me." He sat back calmly. There was plenty of time to get her back into his grasp. He already knew where she was going.  
  
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Right! So sorry that took so long! It took a while for it to come to me! I promise the next chapter will be posted in MUCH less time than it took for this one! Thank you for being patient with me!  
  
Also: has anyone else noticed that Norrington has no first name?! Yeah! None! Even on the credits for the movie, it just says "Norrington"!!!! How annoying is that?! 


	22. The Morning After

Chapter 22: The Morning After  
  
He woke up but didn't open his eyes, trying to think of where he was and why he was rocking back and forth. And why a woman wearing rose perfume was next to him. He opened his eyes, and memory flooded back to him. She lay facing him, a few strands of hair falling over her face. She looked so peaceful and innocent. He smiled and pushed the hair as gently as he could away from her face. She sighed and snuggled closer to him, making him rather aware that she was still naked.  
  
He lifted his head up onto his hand and winced at the ache in his head. Damn rum anyway. The pain faded as he stayed still, which he was perfectly willing to do as the scenery before him was absolutely breathtaking. When he had moved, the blanket had fallen back from her shoulder, revealing as well a single, perfect breast. He took his time in studying her, noticing where the tan abruptly ended and the milk white of skin that had never seen the light of the sun began.  
As he drank in her beauty with his eyes, his free hand moved of its own will and lightly touched her shoulder, to make sure she was real. One touch wasn't enough, and he found himself trailing his fingers down her arm underneath the blanket. Reaching her wrist, he moved from her arm to her hip and traced her hip and upper thigh. He didn't wish to wake her, but a lightheadedness came over him as he touched her, and he found he could not stop.  
His hand came back to her torso, softly tracing a path upwards between her breasts until it came to rest on her cheek. When his eyes followed the path his fingers had made, he found himself falling into deep blue eyes. He heard his heart pounding in his ears and saw her lips shape his name before he covered them with his own, quickly losing any will he may have had to break the spell he was under. Her hands pulled at the laces of his pants, which he shed as quickly as he could, growling slightly as the blanket got in his way.  
Finally, his lips returned to the welcoming warmth and sweetness of hers as they once more rode the waves of passion that had consumed them the night before.  
  
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"Would you quit staring at me?" she asked in exasperation some time later as she started getting dressed.  
"Why?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.  
"Because I don't like being gawked at!"  
He laughed, making her sigh. "I don't believe this. You don't like being gawked at, but I seem to remember a certain deep blue dress that was more than a little revealing." She dressed as quickly as she could, doing her best to ignore the soreness between her legs.  
"Well it wasn't by choice," she shot back.  
"God, woman, don't you have a headache?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.  
"No.should I?" she replied, puzzled.  
"After all the rum we drank last night, I would say yes, you should."  
"Well I don't. I take it you do?" she said, looking at him with a smile on her face.  
"Come here, I'll do that," he said as she started trying to dig the tangles out of her hair, wishing she had thought to braid it. Obediently, she sat on the edge of the bed with her back to Will and let him brush out her hair. She readied herself for the pain in her scalp, and when it didn't come, she was shocked. "Elizabeth taught me how to do this without hurting," he said, seeming to read her mind.  
"That's amazing," Arianne replied, while at the same time fighting back the sting of jealousy at the mention of his wife. God, his wife. What was she thinking? She had just helped him commit adultery! A memory nibbled at the edge of her thoughts, and she let it in. Hadn't he proposed to her last night? "Will?" she asked in a tiny voice.  
"Yes?"  
"Um.did you mean what you asked me last night?"  
"When?"  
"Er.before we.before we." She flushed with embarrassment and had the feeling he was amused.  
"Yes, Arianne, I meant it," he said thoughtfully. She remained quiet, sensing that he wasn't finished yet. "I meant it, but perhaps that was not the proper time for that question. Do you mind if we put it on hold until it is the time for it?"  
"Not at all.but are we going to have to stop doing-what we did?" she asked, feeling like a whore and yet hoping he wouldn't say yes.  
"Do you want to stop?" he asked gently, laying the brush down and turning her to face him.  
"N-no.not really. I-I like it."  
He smiled gently at her, his eyes shining lovingly, as he wrapped her in his arms. She laid her head against his bare chest to hear his heart beating. "I like it too, love," he replied, the sound of his voice vibrating in her ear. "I don't want to stop either. But if at any time you wish to, we will, alright?"  
She nodded against his chest, feeling her heart pound much faster than his in relief. She looked up at him and kissed his chin. "So, are you going to let me finish you hair?" he said, smiling down upon her. She sat up and resumed her former position, letting him brush and braid her hair in silence.  
  
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"What do you think is happening back in Port Royal, Will?" she asked as they stood on deck. He started, swearing she had been reading his thoughts.  
"I don't know, Arianne, love. I hope we get back soon," he replied, noting her shiver even though the sun was shining and it was rather hot. "He will not hurt you again. I won't let him, darling." She was looking away from him. He took her chin in hand and turned her back to face him and saw she had tears in her eyes. "I promised to protect you, remember?" She nodded. "Then trust me. Please."  
"Alright," she replied, "I trust you."  
He smiled down at her and she smiled back sincerely. He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly. "You had probably better return the rum we didn't drink to Jack. You know it's his favorite."  
"No," she said, a coy look coming to her face, "I think I'll keep it until the next time I need to get you drunk to learn something." She winked and jogged off, presumably to find Jack. He laughed and watched her with pleasure.  
  
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Hearing a voice filled with happiness calling his name, Jack turned and watched Arianne come jogging up to him at the wheel of the ship, noting the sparkle of her blue eyes. Just seeing her so happy put him in a good mood. "I take it you had a good night, then?" he said slyly as she reached him. His grin widened as she blushed. "Good, he'll keep his life then!"  
The smile disappeared from her face in an instant and he wondered what he had said wrong. "Jack," she started, "when will we be returning to Port Royal?"  
"Ah," he said, revelation dawning on him. "At the next port we'll reprovision and be heading back to Port Royal. It should only take a week or so."  
She smiled and thanked him, but the worry didn't leave her eyes as she walked away to climb the crow's nest for her shift. He sighed. He was worried too, but tried not to think about it as there was nothing he could do until he got there. He smiled as he remembered his main reason for returning to the city, however. Suddenly he broke into the rousing chorus of "A Pirate's Life for Me," joined by most of the crew shortly into it.  
  
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Ahhh, they're going to return to Port Royal! What will happen? Will Amos have his way? Will Will be able to keep his promise to Arianne? Will Jack finally get his lady love? Find out! In the next chapter(s) of Arianne! 


	23. Kidnapped Again?

Chapter 23: Kidnapped Again?  
  
"Amara!" Elizabeth exclaimed when her manservant brought the caller to her. "What are you doing wearing that uniform? Why didn't you ever reply to my letters?"  
"Elizabeth, Amos intercepted your letters to me-I never got them until today. This uniform was the only way to escape the house; I've been under arrest by my husband for the past two weeks. God, Elizabeth, he's gone insane!" After this outburst, she immediately erupted into tears, falling to her knees.  
Elizabeth let the storm pass and helped Amara to her feet and a chair. She slowly drew the story out of Amara. "This servant girl Amos hired after he got Katie fired.she was so very shy and scared, and no matter what I did the girl would not speak to me or look me in the eye. I think she was the one that took the letters I wrote to you and delivered them to Amos. Anyway, we found that she had hanged herself in the cellar today. I am fairly certain she did it after she slid the stolen letters- both yours and mine-under my door," Amara checked herself. "This is my belief, at any rate, I didn't see the person that did it."  
"How do you know that Amos didn't do it?" Elizabeth asked. "He could have caught her, right?"  
"No, he was gone to see how the investigation was going. And he wouldn't have killed her. He's far too possessive of things he believes belong to him." Amara sighed, appearing to be her old self, strong and in control. "At least he doesn't know where I am now." Elizabeth nodded and ordered a servant to get some tea ready.  
How little they knew.  
  
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The clock struck midnight, and Amos left the chair he had been sitting in all afternoon. He stealthily snuck out the servant's entrance and stayed to the shadows as he crept down the street to the house of the Turners.  
Reaching the first part of his goal, he crept around the house testing windows as noiselessly as possible so he wouldn't wake up any of the few servants that stayed overnight and trying to find the entrance they used, knowing that it usually wasn't locked. The house was completely dark, and the moon was hidden this night by clouds, so he was forced to go about this by feel.  
At last, he found a small door hidden cleverly between two bushes. This was not the servant's entrance, but the cellar door, and he decided that this would work as well as anything else. Trying it, he found it to open easily and without so much as a squeak. He smiled, mentally thanking whoever kept the hinges oiled. Finally, he crept down the steps into the cellar's complete blackness and lit the small taper he had brought with him so he would not knock anything over by mistake. Finding the steps leading up to the first floor, he made his way up the steps only to find the door locked. Growling to himself in frustration, he made his way back through the cellar and back outside. Blowing out the taper, he continued his prowl about the house.  
  
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Amara couldn't sleep. Her bed faced the wrong way, the objects were completely different, and she felt altogether insecure. What if Amos did know where she had gone? Would he do anything? She stood by the window, looking out at the dark yard. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow moving around the bushes surrounding the house, but passed it off as her own nerves making her see ghosts where there were none.  
She decided she would go down to the kitchen and find a little bit to eat, hoping it would help her sleep.  
That was all that saved her.  
  
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He crept up the stairs, rather more irritated than he had been before he ran into the locked door to the cellar. It was damned lucky the servants' entrance had been unlocked. If it hadn't been, he would likely have hanged being silent and broken it, calling attention to himself. But it hadn't, so he didn't, and no one was the wiser.  
After checking a few of the rooms with open doors, he discovered they were rooms no one slept in (he even passed by Amara's room, thinking it unused), and so tried the first closed door he came upon. Finding it unlocked, he carefully-so carefully!-turned the handle and slid it open without a creak. He crept silently into the room, closing the door most of the way behind him and made his way slowly over to the bed.  
From the meager light of a candle set a few feet away from the bed, he saw familiar curls and grinned with delight. He drew a long strip of cloth from his pocket and wadded it before tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder. When she opened her eyes and then her mouth to scream, he shoved the wad of cloth into her mouth and held her down while she kicked and clawed at him, trying to spit the gag out of her mouth.  
  
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When she realized that her efforts were fruitless and that he apparently felt no pain, she stopped struggling, staring at his face with wide eyes as she finally recognized him. Terror took hold of her then, and she froze as he tied a strip over her mouth and behind her head, then moved on to tie her hands and legs together.  
Her mind was screaming a single name, praying he would come and save her, as he had once before. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't return, not yet. Tears began to gather in her eyes, but she blinked them back, forcing herself not to cry, not to let him have the satisfaction of seeing her tears.  
She heard him whispering to himself, but couldn't understand what he was saying. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know. The pain that resulted as he yanked the restraints tighter went nearly unnoticed as her world slowly started to fade around her. A small part of her knew she had to make herself stay aware of what was going on, but she was slowly losing the battle.  
  
************************************************************************ Hmmm.am I getting predictable in my old age? Ah well. Anyway! Three chapters in three days! Hope you're all proud of me, though I don't think anyone noticed that chapter 22 was up! Also, thanks muchly to Daydream Believer for telling me that Norrington does indeed have a first name! I MUST see the DVD! 


	24. Perhaps, but then again, perhaps not?

Chapter 24: Perhaps. . .perhaps not?  
  
When she returned to a conscious state of mind, she realized she had been thrown over a shoulder. With the blood rushing to her head, it was hard to remember what had happened, or even who she was. Shortly, she remembered-her name at least. She was Elizabeth Turner. But whoever was carrying her was not her husband. She tried to open her eyes and found that a blindfold had been tied tightly over them.  
Memory hit her. God, she was being kidnapped by Amos. She knew better than to test her bonds, or let him know in any obvious way that she was awake. Over the pounding of blood in her ears, she could hear him whispering to himself again, and still could not understand a word of what he was saying. Once she thought she might have heard him say "Amara," but once again, she no longer cared as she slipped into the oblivion of unconsciousness once more.  
  
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Still unable to sleep, Amara went down the hall to check and see if Elizabeth was still awake. Finding the door wide open with no light emanating from it, she immediately assumed that Elizabeth had indeed been unable to sleep and was perhaps in the library, and yet when she made her way down there, this room was dark as well.  
In fact, the entire house appeared to be dark.  
  
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Amos brought Elizabeth in through the servants' entrance, knowing no one would be about to see him, and took her up to his quarters. He had one of his quarries in hand, and was infuriated that he had been unable to find the other. He had been absolutely positive that Amara had fled to her precious friend Elizabeth after the letters had been stolen, and yet he had not found her. When he tossed Elizabeth casually to the floor and noted with some satisfaction that she didn't move, he took to pacing, debating with himself over where his mother could possibly be, and what he could do about it. He thought about telling his father that she had sneaked out, but eventually decided that it would be best if he pretended he knew nothing of it. None of the servants that cleaned his room would dare mention anything about his "guest," they were all too well trained. Yes, he would pretend that Amara was missing while surreptitiously searching Port Royal for her by night. Smiling, he laid down in his bed-not even bothering to check that Elizabeth's blindfold had remained in place-and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
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She came back to consciousness once more, and when she automatically opened her eyes she found no barrier in front of them, only the natural darkness of night. Coming more to awareness, she determined she was lying on a carpeted floor-and she hadn't been gently put there, judging by the soreness in the side she was laying on.  
God she ached. Her head hurt from being carried half upside down for so long, her body ached from being tossed to the ground, wrists and ankles chafing in the restraints put on them, and her mouth was extremely dry from the gag that had been placed in her mouth. Tears started, blurring the few shapes she could make out in the darkness, and she ruthlessly choked them back. She had to get out of here. She couldn't do that if she was crying.  
Hearing a loud snort all of a sudden made her twitch violently, which made the pain in her body that much worse. When regulated snoring followed, she relaxed, knowing that her captor was asleep. Now, how could she escape?  
  
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Amara was panicked. She had checked Elizabeth's room, this time actually entering, and had found nothing. She searched the rest of the household and found nothing of her friend. Finally running out of places to look, she woke the few servants that stayed overnight. After she had told her story, they were inclined to dismiss it entirely, but searched anyway to humor her. When they too found no sign of her, they also became aware of the seriousness of the situation. Elizabeth never left the house after dark.  
  
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The clock struck three. She was at the doorway leading into the hall, her movements still punctuated by Amos' loud snores. God, she had to escape, she had to get out before he woke up. The gag muffled the sob that tried to escape her throat as she scooted herself the direction she prayed the door was.  
  
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"Well?!" Amara shouted in a shrill voice not her own. "What can we do?"  
"Miss, we have to wait until morning. That's the only thing we can do. We can't report anything until the right officers are on duty. We're sorry, Miss, but there is nothing else we can do!"  
She choked back the tirade she longed to launch at the man, knowing he was right, though she did not want to think that there was nothing to be done. She sat down, completely worn out, and hung her head in her hands, praying Elizabeth was safe.  
  
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She groaned inwardly when she reached the top of the stairs. This was going to be hell. Pushing herself carefully into an upright position, she began the long descent down the steps, praying with all her might that Amos would not waken. The clock struck the half hour. Several times during this journey down the stairs she had to stop and rest when the pain in her body became too much to bear. She was vaguely aware of tears streaming down her face.  
When at last she reached the foot of the long stairwell, she rested again, absolutely exhausted by her efforts. When she raised her head to get her bearings, she found she was in a familiar room, one that led to the front door she herself had entered more than two weeks ago. She was so close to freedom! Frantic energy filled her and she scooted along the floor much like a worm or snake, desperate to reach the door that symbolized her freedom.  
When she realized that she could see considerably better all of a sudden, she knew it was too late. "And just what have we here?" came a masculine voice from behind her.  
  
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Well, I finally figured out why my ellipses would work and my sentences looked weird. Sheesh, dumb ff.net. Anyway, thank you very much to the three reviewers that informed me that Norrington's first name is, indeed, James, and does anyone else find it ironic that Arianne's suitor's name happens to be the same? Also, I changed my settings so that I can accept anonymous reviews, although I thoroughly enjoy the signed reviews so I can learn about my readers! As soon as I get some time, I'll start reading some of your stories! Alright, once again, I very very VERY much appreciate all the good reviews and the help you all have given me, though I fear you're beginning to hate me for my cliffhangers, lol. *wink* I also very much appreciate the people that signed in to review though they apparently despise doing so, and I'm sorry about my former settings, I think it did that automatically. :S Alright! So! What will happen in the next chapter do you suppose? Will we see what happens to Elizabeth? Or will we return to the Black Pearl? Who knows! I certainly don't! ^.^ Ta ta for now! 


	25. The Time Has Come

Chapter 25: The Time Has Come  
  
Arianne woke to find herself in Will's arms, and was surprised. She always was shocked at her immensely good fortune, and was positive she was dreaming every time she woke to him. What had she done to deserve this tender, loving man?  
As she shifted slightly she winced. Maybe not so tender. Yesterday's sparring had been rather abusive on both of them. As the days had passed on their trip back to Port Royal, they had both become very tense. Tempers snapped every so often, the flat of a blade would fall a little too sharply upon an arm or leg, and still each night they would fall into each other's arms, murmuring apologies before falling into an exhausted sleep. Jack had given up on making them concentrate on working after Will had mopped the same spot for over half an hour and Arianne had nearly missed an oncoming storm.  
One of the reasons Arianne was so snappish with Will--and she had to admit this to herself--was because they were drawing nearer and nearer to Elizabeth. Five nights ago he had mumbled her name over and over in his sleep, and had occasionally done the same in the nights since. She deeply feared losing him to her. When she had told Jack, he had simply stared at her soberly for a moment before laughing and joking as was his wont. She had laughed and joked with him, but she wondered if maybe he had feelings for Elizabeth himself?  
She sighed. Now that she was awake it would be impossible to get back to sleep. Climbing over Will to get out of bed, she stood for a moment staring down at him and began to get dressed. It's amazing, she thought, how he can sleep through anything. She opened the door and left.  
  
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Will started awake when the door opened and closed only to find himself alone. He sighed, wishing she would wake him when she left. He knew she was getting nervous about going back home, and he was too. He shook his head as the memory of that awful dream came back to him. Ever since that night, a sense of dread had taken hold of him, and he felt the need more than ever to be back in Port Royal.  
Was Elizabeth in trouble?  
  
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He watched as she stood on deck, looking out at the smudge of land that would all to soon prove to be the island that Port Royal rested on. When Jack came to stand beside her she didn't look at him. "What do you think will happen when we reach it, Jack?"  
"Well, with any luck I won't be arrested again, but other than that I don't know. Buck up, love, it'll all play out for the best in the end," he replied, and then he left her to her musings. Ah, he envied Will. As the days passed he couldn't help but love the girl more, and he felt guilty for it in spite of his pirate's soul. What would he say to Elizabeth? I'm sorry, Elizabeth darling, I fell for the woman that captured your husband's heart, can you ever forgive me? He smiled inwardly. She would murder him. Well, maybe not murder. . .but she would severely injure him. He winced at the thought of where that injury would take place.  
He surreptitiously stared at Arianne as he wandered about the deck, wishing she didn't have to go back to Port Royal. She was a good worker, and she added a certain aura to everyday life that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was really too bad she was so in love with Will. Ah, well.  
  
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When night fell, the Black Pearl moved into the harbor and docked. If anyone noticed or even cared, there was no sign of it.  
Arianne and Will stood in their cabin, Arianne tying a deep red sash about her waist. She wore a white shirt tailored to her womanly torso with slightly billowing sleeves, her pants were full-length and form-fitting, toughened leather boots coming halfway up her calves. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail instead of the customary braid, and Will admired the rich golden fall of it. She returned to Port Royal not as a noble, but as a pirate.  
She hadn't smiled since the fort had come into view, and even now she went about with a grim, determined face. She stuck a knife into the sash, looking around to see if there was anything she was missing. He handed her a sword, beautifully crafted, as were all of the blades he made. She took it solemnly and stuck it through her sash as well.  
They had made love earlier, each feeling for their own separate--if similar--reasons that it would be the last time they would do so. And still she had not smiled. He looked at her sadly, aching inside. He needed the happy woman that brought so much light to his life right now. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, unsure what exactly he was going to say. Each idea seemed more ridiculous than the last. Finally he gave up, and let the silence layer ever thicker over them.  
Finally she turned to him, smiling sadly. He got up and walked over to her, holding her tightly to him. When she tilted her head back, he immediately obliged by leaning down and kissing her firmly on her soft lips.  
When he finally pulled back and opened his eyes, he met her deep, deep blue eyes, filled with purpose and tears. His own eyes threatened to overflow. They had been so happy for a while, why did it have to come to this? He looked away first, and didn't hold to her when she pulled away.  
They had had their share of happiness with each other, and he hoped against all hope that they could be together once more after all of this was over.  
"I love you," she whispered, and then she was gone.  
  
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Alrighty, first things first. . .I deeply apologize for the length of time it took me to update. It would have come sooner if my child hadn't fallen sick and then passed it along to me. Blah. As it is, most of this was done when I was sneezing up a storm and I'm not entirely sure whether it makes sense now--but it should later! Hopefully. 


	26. Discovered

Chapter 26: Discovered  
  
She woke, praying as she always did that this was a dream, but again, as always, she was devastated that it wasn't. This was really happening. Her eyes were dry, she had cried all the tears she had left, and still her spirits had yet to reach the bottom of this well of despair and torture. She was unsure of how long she had been here, had it been a day? two? The memory of the night she had tried to escape slipped unbidden to the fore, and she was forced to relive it yet again.  
  
"And just what have we here?" She twisted around in horror, expecting it to be Amos. When she saw that it was Arthur Bailey, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least she had until she saw the shadow come up behind him. Horror had overwhelmed her as the shadow conked Arthur on the back of the head. As he fell forward, the candle he had been carrying fell and nearly caught her nightgown on fire. She had moved barely out of the way, and had watched as the flame drowned in melted wax.  
"Trying to escape? For shame!" came the dreaded voice beside her. The tears flowed more freely, blinding her even as she was blinded by the sudden darkness. He hefted her up over his shoulder once more and hurried back up the stairs with her, throwing her down on the floor of his room once more. "I'll be back for you," she heard him whisper before the tide of unconsciousness roared over her again.  
When she woke, she did not know how much time had passed, but all thought of time vanished as she realized that it was light in the room, and Amos was sitting on the edge of the bed staring down at her. She had tried to scream as he stood up, but the gag was still firmly in place and her throat was so dry she could barely even squeak.  
  
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He whistled a jaunty tune as he left the manor for a stroll. Things were going well now. He knew where Amara was, had known since the night that bitch Elizabeth had tried to escape. He smiled at the memory of what he had done to her. He stopped smiling when he remembered that the police were looking for Elizabeth. They had already searched everywhere in Port Royal except the manor houses, and soon they would no doubt resort to that. He would have to do something with her if that time came, but until it did he would enjoy the time they spent together.  
He turned into the drive of the Turner's home and walked up to the door. After knocking, he waited with more patience than was his wont for the butler to open the door. When this happened, he told the man to tell Amara that she had a visitor, and to come and greet him with all possible haste. He never bothered to tell the man his name.  
  
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"Madam," the butler interrupted politely, "you have a visitor who wishes to be seen immediately."  
"A visitor?" she queried. "Who is it?"  
"He did not leave a name, Madam, only that he wished to speak to you as soon as possible."  
Before she could question him further, he had left the room. She sighed and set down her book. Who on earth would be visiting her here except possibly the chief of police--who was at his wits' end with both Arianne's case and now Elizabeth's. Never had Port Royal had such crimes committed in so little time. Hoping that it was indeed the chief of police, she rushed out of the sitting room and to the entryway to greet her guest.  
When she saw him, she froze.  
  
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He grinned widely at the look on her face. Oh, this was fantastic. He so loved to see the fear upon the faces of his victims. "Mother, darling," he said with a smile and stepped forward as if to embrace her. "It is so good I have finally found you! Father and I have been worried sick for you ever since you disappeared."  
She stepped back hurriedly, her face a mask of disgust and hatred. "Then why didn't you send out a search party, Amos?" she asked, "I have been gone for a grand total of five days, surely you both wished for my return?"  
"Oh deeply, Mother dear, deeply, but I convinced Father that it would not be prudent to bother the police now, not with so much going on. The governor's daughter would, after all, take precedence over you. I told him I would find you, and so I did, though not without a bit of help from a good friend of the both of us."  
  
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Her head lolled back and forth as she slept fitfully. There was little else to do in this hellhole day by day when Amos wasn't there. Not that she was happy to have something to do when he was there. No, she was very grateful for his absences, it meant that he wasn't physically torturing her. At least when she had been taken by the undead pirates they hadn't touched her. She groaned, knowing no one would hear her for the gag muffling what little sound there was.  
If she hadn't feared so much that Amos would be back any second now, she would have tried to escape again. The bastard often left the door open in plain sight to torture her more. She had tried again after that first night she could remember so little of. When he had caught her, he had tortured her more, but again she could remember nothing of it, and so knew not whether it had been more vicious than the last time.  
He had been in a frighteningly good mood lately, mumbling to himself or whistling cheerfully as he went about tying new ropes about her wrists and ankles (which she could no longer even feel) or while he did things to her just for the sake of doing so. She shuddered to recall those things, refused to even give them a name.  
God, when would she be released from this torture? Last time she had been captured Will had fought through wind and storm to save her. Where was her hero now?  
  
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Amara stared at him uncomprehending for a moment, then horror crept through her soul, sending icy waves of terror through her body. Elizabeth? That monster had Elizabeth? As she thought this, she realized that she wasn't really surprised. It was no wonder he had known where to find her. As Amos grinned wickedly at her, the sickening feeling of defeat overcame her.  
It was only a matter of time before he had his revenge of her as well.  
  
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So sorry this one took so long as well. Forgot to e-mail it to myself before moving to the other house. Blah! And this dumb chapter just WOULD NOT flow! Argh, I hate it when they do that. Ah well, I hope it's good anyway. Thanks for your patience!  
  
Now, to reply to a couple of questions:  
  
Smushedfairy: I may not have implied things well enough in one of my chapters. He thinks Elizabeth is pregnant, as do the women at the luncheon she had so many chapters back. I'd be willing to bet that a LOT of people missed something in that. Blah, bad me! Also, about Norrington, who knows if he'll have a happy ending or not? Hard to say, really.  
  
Rei no Kaze: Yes, Jack is the actor's first name...but James is the character's first name. 


	27. The Return

Chapter 27: The Return  
  
For the second time that day he joined her at the stern of the ship as she looked out, only this time the view of Port Royal was considerably larger. "Are you sure you want to do this, love?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling.  
"No, Jack," she said, and her voice had no trace of tremor in it, "I'm sure I don't want to do this, not at all." She turned to him. "But I have to."  
He nodded and stroked her cheek, wiping away a tear. "I understand, and I want you to know that you won't be alone."  
"I know," she said, and then smiled. "As if you would allow me to go gallivanting off by myself--even if I wanted to. What if there was plunder to be had?"  
"You know it, love," he said with a smile and bowed to her. When Will came up and she went to speak to him, he stared after her longingly before leaving to find Gibbs and Anna Maria to give them their orders.  
  
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"I'm coming with you," Will stated flatly, staring deep into her eyes. She sighed as she thought of how she had known this was coming. She started to turn away but he took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him. "I love you," he said, "and I will not stand idly by as you walk into danger."  
"I love you too, Will, and it's fine that you are coming with me, even if it is for the wrong reasons." With that, she wrenched herself from his grip and went to find Jack to inform him of her readiness before she burst into tears.  
When she found him--ran into him, more like--she had regained composure and informed him with all seriousness that they were ready to depart. Even Jack wasn't smiling and joking anymore. She sighed inwardly, having hoped that he would relieve some of the solemnity with his carefree attitude. Ah, well. There was nothing for it. She nodded, and they set off.  
  
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She woke with an odd feeling that something was happening. Strangely, it didn't have the feel of forboding that she had grown accustomed to in these past days. It felt. . .exciting. The feeling faded when she heard him puttering about, preparing for something, and despair won out. Whatever was happening could not possibly do anything to help her. Her hero was gone.  
  
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Amara woke as well, also with the feeling of something exciting about to happen. Against all rational thought, she got out of bed and threw on a dressing gown and slippers. Once this was accomplished, she rushed down the stairs and out the front door, running towards the docks.  
  
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Will stared after Arianne as she walked in front of him, shoulders straight, her hair swaying provocatively so his attention was drawn to her hips--he shook his head. Now was not the time. Perhaps after all this was over and they could be together in peace would he think about such things.  
Because hardly anyone was moving about the docks--a shock in and of itself at any given hour--they heard the patter of running feet a long ways off. When the source was finally visible, Arianne gave a little cry and ran to greet what appeared to be a woman in a dressing gown.  
  
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"Mother!" she exclaimed and wrapped the slight woman in her arms.  
"Arianne, darling! I'm so glad you're safe, so very glad!" Amara burst into tears and held her daughter back at arm's length to get a good look at her. "Good Lord, girl, you're dressed as a pirate!"  
Arianne grinned. "You should see me in the light, Mama." Amara just shook her head and then caught sight of the two men accompanying her.  
"Mister Turner! I'm so happy to see that you are safe and sound!" When Amara turned to Jack with some confusion, Arianne immediately supplied his name. "And Jack Sparrow! I have heard so very much about you!" Then she surprised everyone by grabbing his face and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She whispered something in his ear and then pulled back, still smiling with tears rolling down her cheeks.  
All of a sudden, the smiles were gone. "God, Will, he has Elizabeth."  
  
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Pain wrenched through her body as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. As he walked out of the room, fear gripped her. Where was he taking her? As he went down the stairs so very quietly, she wished he had thought to put a blindfold over her eyes. The view was rather sickening and her abused body could not take much more of this.  
Eventually they left the house, and as far as she knew no one had seen them. That was a shame, she thought in a daze. As much as watching the ground made her sick, she did it anyway to try and get some sort of idea as to where they were going. Several times she almost gave in to apathy and despair, but realized that if he was taking her elsewhere, then it was unlikely he would be there nearly every minute of every day. She might yet get her chance to escape...  
  
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Will's face went slack for a moment. "Who has her?" he demanded, all other thought seeming to vanish from his mind. Jack kept his eye on Arianne, watching her jaw set and her entire body tense. As Amara explained to Will, Jack moved over to Arianne.  
"Love," he whispered softly into her ear, "now is not the time to let emotions take over." He hated himself for the words, but had to say them. Perhaps if she got angry enough she would momentarily forget about Will. At least long enough for them to finish this. It seemed to work, for her expression hardened as she stared at Will.  
"You're right, Jack," she whispered. "Now is not the time to let my emotions get in the way." She must have heard him sigh for she turned to him before he had the chance to hide his downcast features. "Now is not the time to let your emotions get in the way either. None of this with the sad faces and such."  
"We have to save her!" Will pronounced, and Jack winced even though he had known that statement had to be coming sooner or later.  
  
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"Yes, Will," she said, "and we shall, but first we need to get moving to my house." When his stubborn expression set even deeper, she growled in frustration and went over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Listen, you pig-headed oaf! If you go and try to find her now, you might as well be a chicken running around with its head cut off because we have no idea where he might have taken her!"  
She brushed a few strands of hair off of her face and let her statement sink in before continuing. "The best chance we have of finding her is to follow the original plan." He still glared at her mutinously, and she lost her temper, screaming at him. "Fine! If you can't see sense then you just go on ahead and try to find her by yourself! Where will you start, hmm? Perhaps with one of the thousands of hiding places there are in this city? Or might you try looking under the docks? Either way, your chances of finding her are one in a million, if not worse!"  
When Will still seemed to not be listening, she gave up. Ignoring the look of shock her mother was giving her and the smile Jack was trying unsuccessfully to hide, she turned and headed for the house she had lived in since she was a little girl. If Will was going to be an imbecile, then he would do it alone.  
  
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Well, this chapter went MUCH better than that last one, I thought! Anyway, please don't yell at me TOO much for Will coming off as a jackass here, as we all know, he has his moments where nothing will do but that he does things his way...of course, that appears to be the case with Arianne as well. ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! 


	28. Wait Just a Bloody Minute!

Chapter 28: Wait Just a Bloody Minute!  
  
Some time after Arianne, Jack, and Amara had left him standing there, he began to rethink his plan. Where would he start looking for her? Though he was still stinging from the insults, Arianne was right, there were entirely too many hiding places to simply look for without having the slightest clue as to where Elizabeth might be. Sighing, he jogged in the direction they had gone, hoping to find them before they had gone inside Arianne's home.  
  
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She stared at the house she had lived in for so long and found herself not thinking of it as "home." The Pearl had become home to her, and she realized that she really did not want to live in a city that expected good and proper behavior, she didn't want to be tied down by all those rules of etiquette. She wanted to be back at sea on the Pearl with Jack and his crew. Freedom.  
She didn't know how long she had been standing there when Jack came up and nudged her slightly. "So, are we going to go in or not? Personally I'd like to get off my feet for a bit if that's all right with you, lovey," he said, his old humor back in his voice. She nodded.  
When Arianne would have knocked on the door, Amara told her to just go on in, it was her home after all. With a wan smile to her mother and a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach for her thoughts, she walked up to the door and turned the knob, half expecting it to be locked.  
It wasn't, and she entered the house for the first time in nearly a month. The second she stepped inside she was engulfed in memories, everything from excitement about going to an event to her fear of her brother. The latter was most prominent in the memories, and it burned her to think that he had had so much control over her for so long.  
She came to herself when Jack touched her shoulder and realized that her mother was going up the stairs to get Arthur. "God, Jack, I'm sorry," she started but he shushed her with a finger to her lips and wiped a tear from her face. Of course, this only made the barrier holding the storm back thinner, and she clamped her mouth shut in order not to let the sob escape. More tears did anyway, and Jack folded her gently in his arms and stroked her hair while she fought to regain her composure.  
  
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When he finally came to the house, he noticed that the door was open. As he approached he could see two shapes standing there. He recognized Arianne immediately by the way her golden hair caught the light, and then he realized that the other one must be Jack. When he took her into his arms, Will immediately felt a flare of jealousy. How could she turn to Jack when she knew that Will loved her? The jealousy died as he realized that the thought hadn't quite rung true in his head. Sure, he loved her--but did he love her in the way he had loved Elizabeth?  
At the thought of Elizabeth, the need to go to her overwhelmed him again. Did he love Arianne the way that he still loved Elizabeth? Damn it all, he thought, hating himself. He was going to hurt the woman that loved him for another woman who may not even want him back. Elizabeth was, after all, in love with Jack Sparrow. Sighing, he approached the two.  
  
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Jack saw him first, and let go of Arianne immediately. Damn, he had the worst luck. He turned away and began to pace the entryway, cursing to himself. Why on earth was Will so damned attractive to women anyway? And always the ones he wanted! Alright, so that had only happened twice, but damn it all he could not keep doing this.  
  
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She turned as Jack abruptly let go of her and saw Will standing just outside the open door. "Will!" she exclaimed.  
He smiled wanly at her. "Can I come in?" he asked meekly.  
"Yes, yes of course," she replied, still startled. After he came in, she shut the door behind him.  
He took her hands when she turned back to him. "I'm sorry, Arianne. You were right. I'm so very sorry."  
When his eyes glistened and he turned his head away she suspected that he was apologizing for more than the incident earlier, and her spirits sunk even lower. Tonight was not a good night, damn it! Why did everything have to happen at once?  
"Arianne!" came the shocked exclamation from her father as he came down the stairs. Wryly, she thought of the irony of her last thought.  
"Hello, father," she replied coolly.  
"Good God, girl, you're dressed like a pirate and you're...you're BROWN for heaven's sake! Just what the bloody hell have you been doing? Do you have any idea what your friends--" and he said this with a sneer at Jack and Will, "did to your brother? By God I'll have them hanged for Amos' injuries and your kidnapping--if kidnapping it really was, you little whore! I worked so hard to convince Sir James that you would be a worthy bride, and this is how you repay me? 'Tis no matter, though, soon enough you will be wed to James and acting like a proper lady."  
Anger flooded her as she listened to his tirade. How could the man be so stupid? Amos had beaten her brutally--Will and Jack had only knocked him out for that very reason, they had only thought to save her! The insult to her honor--though she realized she hadn't exactly been celibate, it had only ever been with Will and she loved him. The thought of marrying Sir James sickened her almost as much as "acting like a proper lady" did.  
  
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Will stared at Arthur in disgust. This was Arianne's father? It was no wonder she was always sneaking off to him for sword practices or down to the docks. Between Amos and Arthur her life had to be hell. He knew he should be saying something in Arianne's defense, but he could summon no words to begin.  
  
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"Now you wait just a bloody minute," Jack started, stepping in front of Arianne and drawing his sword. "You didn't give the girl a choice in the matter of marrying this James, now, did you? And I'll not stand by as you call your own little girl a whore! She ran away to get away from her monster of a brother, and, it appears, her idiot of a father. When Will and I knocked Amos out, it was because he was beating her senseless! You should have seen the bruises and the cuts into her flesh from the corset. Your daughter was black and blue from the neck down, do you even care?"  
She stared at the back of Jack's head in shock. He was protecting her...he had even drawn his sword on her father! As he continued his berating of her father, she looked to either side of her and saw her mother on one side and Will on the other.  
She tapped Jack on the shoulder as she moved up beside him, interrupting him mid-sentence. "It's alright, Jack," she said softly.  
"No, it most certainly is not alright! He ne--"  
"No, Jack," she said firmly. "It's alright. We don't have time for this right now, we have to find out where Amos has taken Elizabeth."  
  
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Arthur's shock at the pirate yelling at him and drawing a sword on him began to fade as his daughter stopped the man mid-sentence.  
"No, Jack," she said firmly, a resolve he had never before seen in her shining forth from her eyes, "It's alright. We don't have time for this right now, we have to find out where Amos has taken Elizabeth."  
Now he was confused. Elizabeth? As in Elizabeth Turner? What would Amos have to do with her?  
"Arthur," Arianne said, turning to him. It felt as though he had been slapped in the face to hear her call him that. "Amos has kidnapped Elizabeth Turner, we have to find her before he hurts her as badly as he hurt me."  
"You can't expect me to believe this fairytale--" he began, and was immediately shushed.  
"Believe it or not, damn you, tell me where Amos is!" Her eyes burned and he took an involuntary step back. Who was this woman? "Fine, don't answer me," she snapped and stalked past him up the stairs. He stared blankly at the three in front of him, Jack Sparrow with his sword still drawn and Will Turner staring daggers at him. His own wife gazed at him with disgust written all over her face.  
How could this be happening?  
  
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She searched the entire upstairs section, especially her brother's room. Finding nothing out of place but a scrap of cloth on his floor, she nearly shouted curses in frustration. He was gone.  
  
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Alrighty, another chapter completed! More to come soon! Thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers for sticking with me! 


	29. Confrontation

Chapter 29: Confrontation  
  
As she jolted along, she realized that the terrain was getting sandier, with more rocks. Where was he taking her? She soon realized he was mumbling to himself again, and she tried her best to listen to what he was saying. Something about someone being too close? What was this all about? Too close to what? As hard as she tried, she could not make out any more of what he was saying, nor did she really care too much anymore as the continued jolting kept sending shocks of pain through her body.  
Damn it, she thought to herself, a spark of her old temperament rising within her, why the hell was she just waiting for someone to come rescue her? Could she not do something herself? When Amos stopped walking and threw her down onto the ground--the relatively soft ground compared to his bedroom floor--she waited patiently for him to turn around for a moment before lashing out with her bound feet.  
They came into contact with his leg, making him stumble. When he regained his balance he turned to look at her with a familiar glint in his eyes. Oh, she thought as the spark died, that would be why she awaited a rescuer...  
She hardly felt it this time as he tortured and violated her once again, but she hoped as she always did that this would be the last time.  
  
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"Blast it, he's not here!" she exclaimed as she came downstairs. Both Jack and Will admired her grace as she moved, and the nearly visible fires of her determination and anger only made her that much more appealing. She was always beautiful, but her anger made her absolutely glorious. Of course, neither of the men wanted to be the recipient of that anger, and nearly pitied the woman's father and sibling.  
Jack tore his eyes away from Arianne when her father moved slightly away and more towards the door. "Not so fast," he said, pulling his pistol out and pointing it at the man. "You're not leaving the party so rudely, are you?" When he shook his head and moved back to the center of the room, Jack lowered the pistol. "So very good of you to stay."  
  
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Later, she was left lying alone on the sand and debris and tried to catch her breath as the sea gently sprayed her face. Amos had left some time ago, she could not be sure how long. All she knew was that he had stroked her face gently before he had gone, saying that he had enjoyed the time they had spent together. She dared not even to hope that those words had meant what they sounded like.  
  
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"I am only going to ask you one more time, Arthur," she said to him, the look in her eyes the only thing betraying her impatience. "Where did Amos go?"  
It was midnight. They had been at this for a good two hours now, and the wretched woman had questioned every servant in the house as to Amos' whereabouts. This woman in front of him was not his daughter, this was a hardened creature he had never met before now. He did not know where Amos had gone, but he wasn't about to tell her that. She was no better than a pirate, and in his eyes she was much worse than simply a pirate. He glanced towards Amara. This was all her fault. Feeding the girl with tales of pirates and magic and "true love." What had the woman been thinking?  
  
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Damn it all, this was so frustrating! She had questioned everyone in the household and no one had seen him! It was as if he had vanished into thin air. She left her father alone for the moment and began pacing. Where would he have gone? She had to admit that she didn't know any of his hangouts, had never bothered to find out, as a matter of fact. Now she regretted it immensely.  
  
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Will watched Arianne pace and felt terrible for not jumping to her defense as Jack had. He also felt terrible for the betrayal of her love that he knew would come once they found Elizabeth. God he was a terrible man, and he did not deserve such a fine woman loving him. She didn't deserve his treachery.  
When the door opened, everyone froze.  
  
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When he opened the door and went inside, his jaw nearly dropped open in surprise. Standing there was all of his family and the bastard blacksmith, Will Turner, along with the pirate Jack Sparrow. Quickly recovering, he walked up to Arianne as if to give her a hug saying, "Arianne! You've retu--" He was forced to stop short as he felt the tip of a blade just under his chin.  
"Get away from me, you disgusting monster," she whispered menacingly, a fire of the like he had never seen in her radiating from her eyes. Involuntarily, he took a few steps back, and was then infuriated with himself for retreating from a mere woman.  
  
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When he moved forward as if to grab her, hate marring his normally handsome features, she drew her sword and with a face of stone slapped his arm hard with the flat of her blade. "I told you to stay away from me, and you will do so," she said, her voice thankfully not quavering in the slightest. She could only hope that her eyes showed as little emotion.  
  
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Blood rushed to his face as the indignity of what she had just done sank in. "You'll pay for that!" he screamed in fury. "You will pay for the insult to my pride, you will pay for having the nerve to grow a spine and be unafraid of me!" As he continued to shout, focused completely on his sister, he missed the shock plain on his father's face, the horror on his mother's, the absolute contempt upon Jack and Will's faces.  
  
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Jack put his sword and pistol away, seeing with satisfaction that Arthur no longer made any move whatsoever towards the door. When Will made a move to draw his sword, Jack stopped him. Arianne could take care of herself.  
  
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Arthur stared at his son, not recognizing him either. Amos had always been a nice young man, and yet here he was screaming that he was going to make Arianne pay for escaping his grasp, for no longer fearing him. As he described what he would do to make her pay, Arthur blanched. Amos had a very imaginative and troubled mind. Slowly, Arthur began to realize that he had been wrong about both of his children.  
He hoped the price of his mistake would not be too high.  
  
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Amara quivered in fear in spite of herself. She knew that Amos meant every word of what he said and wondered what he had done to Elizabeth. Wondered what he would do to her when he finally got his hands on her.  
  
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Arianne stared calmly at the raging beast before her, feeling no fear in spite of the fact that she knew Amos was deadly serious in what he claimed he would do to her--but he would only do these things to her if she didn't cut him down first.  
When she finally could not take any more of his ranting and raving, she simply whispered, "Enough." He stopped mid-sentence and stared at her in shock. "I have had enough of this, Amos. I won't listen to it any more."  
He straightened up, a gleam she didn't like in his eye. "Look at you, standing there holding a sword like you know how to use it. Come then," he said, drawing his own blade, "let us see if you are really as tough as you think you are." Then, with no warning, he lunged at her.  
  
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In regard to the last chapter, isn't Jack marvelous when he's protecting someone he loves? But anyway...Woohoo! The confrontation finally happens! But what will happen next? ^.^ Find out, in the next episode--I mean, chapter--of Arianne! 


	30. Will you be good, or shall I shoot you?

Chapter 30: Will you be good, or shall I shoot you?  
  
She stepped aside and avoided his wild lunge easily, slapping him on the back with her sword as he passed by. If he keeps doing this, she thought idly, then he'll wear himself out and take care of the work for me.  
  
"Mother," she called out as she parried a blow from Amos. "The police! Quickly!"  
  
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For a moment, Amara just stood there before her limbs finally moved and she bolted out the door, which, for the second time that night, remained open. Jack closed the door behind her and turned back to watch the fight, not in the least bit concerned for Arianne's safety. She was doing very well, as a matter of fact. She moved with a rhythm that Amos could not match, and she was physically fit enough that it took very little effort to take his hardest blows and turn them to an angle where she could better handle them. A better look at Amos told Jack that he would not last much longer at the pace he had set, and he knew it, too. He desperately tried to turn down the tempo of their match and failed miserably.  
He smiled proudly as he watched her. She would be just fine.  
  
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Will watched with his heart in his throat. The brute was twice her size! How could she possibly hope to fend him off? He turned to Jack and was about to tell him that he was going in to help her when he noticed the expression on Jack's face. He was smiling and gazing proudly upon Arianne. Will wanted to scream at him, but without tearing his eyes away from the battle Jack turned Will so he could see what was happening.  
It was stunning. She was even more of a natural than he had suspected when he first began teaching her, and now that she was actually in danger she far exceeded his own skills. Even more amazing was that she was speeding up the swordplay, dancing in and about Amos' direct thrusts. It was almost too slow for him to see it, but as Amos started taking two slaps from the flat of her blade for every swing if his, it was obvious. And she had barely a sheen of sweat upon her brow.  
  
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Elizabeth rested her mouth for a bit. She was desperately trying to rid herself of the gag that was so tightly wedged into her mouth and found progress slow. She was also trying to loosen the cloth ties around her ankles and wrists in between working the gag. She thought she felt a little give, but couldn't be entirely sure and so kept trying. She had to get free of this! She would have cried in frustration if her eyes hadn't been so dry.  
When she finally lay unmoving, panting with exhaustion, she slowly felt despair begin to crawl over her once more. Not now, she thought, I will not give in to despair now! She wiggled her hands and feet almost involuntarily and realized that she had a little more slack than she had had before. When she tried to free her wrists from the bonds, however, she failed. There apparently was not enough slack for that.  
With grim determination, she set about making her bonds looser.  
  
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As the battle wore on, she found it harder and harder to turn the flat of her blade against him rather than the sharp edge. His stubborn resolve to cause her as much pain as possible fueled the fires of anger, but she stayed her hand ruthlessly from the killing blow she longed to deliver. As much as she may wish to, she knew that to harm him would likely land her in jail. As it was, she had much to explain to law enforcement without causing more trouble.  
Amos, though he was obviously exhausted, kept on after her, his swings very slow now. Had she decided to, she could have ended his life with one blow, not a single scratch laid upon her.  
  
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Arthur watched, his shock and numbness slowly fading to grief and yet more anger. Here were his two children fighting against each other, and the WOMAN was winning! Women were weak, useless except in bearing and raising children! He could not believe his son--deranged as he was--was being defeated by a woman.  
When Amos finally fell to the ground, something inside Arthur snapped. His life had crumbled around him, and the one who had brought it about must be stopped.  
  
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At last, when he was bent over with weariness, she brought the hilt of her sword down upon his head and sent him into unconsciousness. She bent over and picked up his sword in her other hand and turned to Jack and Will, suddenly feeling very weary. Jack looked at her with a proud grin, and Will simply stared at her with shock bordering on awe written all over his face.  
  
She smiled shakily and looked down at the swords in her hands, moist with sweat. It was finally over. Amos could not hurt her any more, she was free of him! Her smile grew wider as she thought about it. She looked back up at Will and Jack, desperately wanting a loving embrace, but she was unsure of which one to go to. Will was obviously still in love with Elizabeth, though he seemed to love her in some manner as well, and something about Jack's behavior--though she suspected that he had had feelings for Elizabeth--told her that he loved her more than even silver and gold.  
She was about to just hug the both of them with joy that she had won the day when she saw Will's expression turn to horror and Jack begin to take a step towards her.  
  
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Raucous laughter reached her ears, waking her from an exhausted sleep she hardly knew she had slipped into. Panicking, thinking that Amos was returning for her, she struggled all the more with her bonds, finally sliding one hand free. Frantically she crawled forward, using her elbows to pull her across the sand and sharp debris, stabs of pain arcing through her shoulders and back at the use of limbs so long held in stasis.  
"What the bloody 'ell is that thing?" queried a voice thick with what was most likely drunkenness.  
"It's a person! Bloody hell, man, that's a woman!"  
When she realized that neither of the voices was Amos, she stopped her frantic scrabbling along the ground and lay there, hardly feeling the blood weeping from her elbows and forearms, mixing with the sand to make a reddish sort of mud.  
The one that sounded less drunk leaned over her and rolled her onto her back. "I think she's hurt, Sam!" he called to his companion. "What's your name, miss?" he asked her. She tried her best to answer, but nothing would escape past the gag. When she opened her mouth, he immediately understood and pulled the piece of cloth out. After forcing her name past the dried lump that seemed to be in her throat, she passed out, thinking herself saved.  
Unfortunately for her, the man recognized her name and realized that this was the governor's daughter. He could likely get some money out of her return if he played his cards right. He smiled gruesomely and picked her up.  
  
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She turned just in time to see her father running at her with his sword drawn. Before she could even begin to lift her weapons, he was upon her and had slashed hard, ripping into her abdomen. She fell, shock evident in her eyes as she stared up at him. He lifted his sword again, and as it fell in a blow that would surely kill her, another sword was abruptly batting it away. Shock and pain continued to keep her body out of her own control, and she found herself watching helplessly as Jack battled her father away from her.  
  
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Will knelt beside her as soon as Jack had distracted Arthur, cursing himself yet again for not defending her as he should have, and immediately. "God, Arianne, I'm so sorry," he whispered. She didn't even look at him, her eyes solely on the battle between Jack and her father.  
  
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She heard Will's words, but didn't truly register them as Jack quickly disarmed Arthur and pulled out his pistol once more. "Are you going to be good now, or will I really have to shoot you?" Jack asked threateningly.  
Arthur, his determination gone, seemed to shrink in on himself and sank to the ground. Jack, not one to be fooled, didn't take his eyes away from the pathetic man. "Is she alright, Will?" he asked, his voice thick with concern.  
"I'm fine," she croaked before Will could answer. As if to prove herself right, she sat up, defying the pain. Will tried to pull her back into her former position, but she pushed his hands away. "I'm fine," she said more firmly, forcing herself to her feet. Ignoring the warmth of blood pouring from the wound, she took a step, and then two before the haze of gray around the edges of her vision made her stand still.  
Little good it did, she thought to herself as she fell once more, this time into unconsciousness.  
  
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Alright, this may take a few more chapters than I had anticipated to finish, but not very many more! I appreciate all the reviews I got for that last chapter, I opened up my e-mail this morning and, lo and behold, 6 new reviews! As it is, I think there were 9 reviews total for this chapter, and I'm so very grateful for all of them! You guys have been absolutely fantastic, and I don't think this story would have gone very far without you! 


	31. Tis only my heart, after all

Chapter 31: 'Tis only my heart, after all.  
  
"Jack, we have to find her!" Will was adamant that they finally go and rescue Elizabeth.  
"Damn it, boy, do you not even care that Arianne is hurt?" asked Jack, his voice sounding absolutely disgusted. "She's lost a lot of blood from that wound and I at least am going to stick around here. Not to mention that you still don't know where Elizabeth may be, as Amos has yet to recover from that fantastic blow to the head."  
"Jack, did you not notice how like the sea he smelled?"  
"I did notice, but that doesn't mean we have to go running about the shores without having a clearer idea of location. Wait for the--"  
"Wait for the opportune moment," Will said, sounding absolutely disgusted.  
All of this she heard as awareness stole over her slowly. As yet, she could make little movement except to flutter her eyelids, and she worked harder to regain full control of her body.  
Jack had apparently noticed, for he lifted her head slightly and held a cup of some liquid to her lips. "Drink this, love, it'll help," he said softly to her. She obeyed, finding her throat to be parched, and nearly choked as it went down her throat. God, it was liquid fire!  
She felt a painful pounding on her back and realized that she must be sitting up now. "I'm ok," she choked out, desperate for the pounding to stop. When it did, she took a few moments to regulate her breathing.  
When she could finally draw a deep breath without going into fits of coughing, she laid back again, exhausted, and stared up at the two concerned pairs of eyes above her. Her vision swam a bit with tears, and she suspected that she was more exhausted than she should be due to the rude awakening. Jack knelt by the bed, not touching her. "So, Will," she started, "I understand that you want to get on with the hunt for Elizabeth."  
  
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Will stared down at her, her eyes filled with pain. "You heard us?" he asked softly. She nodded in reply. "Arianne, I'm so sorry, I just...I just..."  
"No, Will, don't explain," she said, and her voice sounded sad with only a little bitterness in it. "You have to find your lady love. I just wish you had realized you still loved her before you told me you loved me. Before we..." she turned her head away, and Will, feeling worse than before, left the room.  
How could he have done this to her?  
  
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Jack watched her as Will left the room, feeling terribly for her. It was he, after all, who had set them up in the first place. If it hadn't been for him, she would not be enduring this heartache now. He placed a hand on her arm. "I'm so sorry, love, I didn't know this would happen."  
"Jack, it's going to be alright. 'Tis only my heart, after all. It will heal."  
"But I don't want you to go through all this pain, Arianne, it isn't fair to you. You don't deserve this, you deserve to be loved unconditionally and eternally."  
With that, he left the room as well.  
  
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She turned to him when he said that, only to see him shut the door behind him. The tears that she refused to cry for Will now threatened to spill over. "And just who is going to do that, Jack?" she asked softly as the door closed, to no one in particular.  
  
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Jack caught the last thing she had whispered as he left her room, and ached for her more. Deciding that she needed a bit of time alone, he went to find Will, and discovered him recounting his view of how things had happened this night with the officers Amara had brought. Amara, seeing him, made a move to go to Arianne now that she was free from the endless questions of the police. Jack simply shook his head and motioned for her to remain here for a while. He knew he would be questioned if he remained in this room, so he went instead into the room they had put Amos into.  
To all appearances, Amos had not moved. Jack fought the urge to plunge his sword into Amos' black heart right then and there. If it hadn't been for Amos, perhaps Arianne would not have suffered the hurt she had this day either. If Amos hadn't been such a sadistic monster, Arianne would likely never have sought out sword lessons or gone running about the docks dressed as a boy.  
When he suddenly twitched, Jack nearly jumped a foot in the air. He had not expected any movement out of Amos for quite a while yet. When his mouth started moving, Jack bent low over him, trying to catch what he was saying. It seemed to be mumbo jumbo.  
Suddenly, he had an idea. Leaning down close to Amos, he asked softly but clearly, "Where is Elizabeth?"  
He then placed his ear near Amos' mouth and listened carefully. Hearing the reply, he realized that he knew well that place, as did Will. That was where he and Will had concocted the plan to commandeer the Interceptor just over a year ago. Clapping Amos on the shoulder in joy that he knew where Elizabeth was now, Will could finally go gallivanting off to save her. Not without himself, of course, as Will was only too likely to do something incredibly stupid.  
"You!" said a very groggy Amos, nearly making Jack jump out of his skin once again.  
"Oh bloody hell, you would have to wake up," Jack said to him, then knocked him on the head hard enough to put him out again. This was not the time to have to deal with yet more questions.  
Jack left Amos' room and headed back for Arianne's to see how she was doing.  
  
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She was woken from a light doze to find Jack staring down at her. She started, only to feel pain lance through her abdomen. Placing her hand there, she felt bandages, and remembered why it was that she was laying in this bed in the first place. She could not believe she had turned her back on her father--who had also been a potentially dangerous person in the room. She cursed herself. "How are you feeling, love?" Jack asked her. "Just fine, I think. As long as certain people aren't standing over me as I sleep, I should heal shortly. As it is, I think I just broke it open again," she said as she thought she felt blood begin to seep forth once more. Jack checked, and apparently found nothing. Kneeling by the bed, he then took one of her hands in his and smiled at her. "Amos told me where he put Elizabeth," he said. Arianne's eyes went wide with shock as Jack related the story to her, smiling weakly as he told her about how he had knocked him back out again. "You and Will should go and find her, Jack, I know I can't come with you," she said, the mention of Will making an ache rise up in her. Jack smiled knowingly at her, and leaned forward to brush his lips across hers. Before she knew quite what was happening, he was standing up, still holding to her hand. "In answer to your earlier question, love: I will." Then he was gone, leaving her to wonder what he had been talking about.  
  
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"Will, get your sword, we're going!" he called as he walked through the room where Will was still being questioned.  
  
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Alright! I finally got the PotC soundtrack, so this chapter was really easy to do! I'd been having the movie playing in the background as I wrote the last few chapters (so it's easier to slip into the story), but listening to the soundtrack is MUCH easier!  
  
Anyway, there should only be about 2 or 3 chapters left! The story is finally winding down to a conclusion! Yay! Thanks to all of you so much again! 


	32. The Rescue

Chapter 32: The Rescue  
  
"We're going to rescue her, then?" Will asked as he hurried to catch up to Jack. "What made you change your mind?"  
"I know the location of where he put her," Jack answered without slowing down.  
"What? How?"  
"I talked to the person that put her there, of course."  
Will stopped for a moment, shock rooting his feet to the ground. The moment passed, however, and he was forced to run and catch up to Jack again. "But...he's unconscious! And why would he have told you anyway? He hates us, remember?"  
"Listen, boy," Jack said, stopping abruptly and making Will nearly collide with him. The tone in his voice and the fact that Jack had just called him "boy" stung. "I don't think you ought to be questioning me. I have never given you reason not to trust me, though you have given Arianne very good reason not to trust you." With that, he turned and started walking again.  
Will was angry and ashamed at the same time. What right had Jack to judge him? After all, wasn't Jack the one that had deserved so many slaps from so many different women? Seeming to read his thoughts, Jack called back, "And those other women weren't exactly the kind of women that trust or should be trusted in the first place, not that it's any of your business.  
"Now do you want to save your wife or not?"  
Again, Will ran to catch up to Jack, more ashamed than angry now.  
  
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She lay back in her bed, thinking still about what Jack had said. She knew what question he had been referring to now, and she was more than a little surprised that he had heard it. She was doing her best to evaluate this objectively, but was failing. While she was still sad--and more than a little angry--about what Will had done to her, she found herself feeling excited and giddy about Jack's proclamation. She also felt a little wary. What was to prevent Jack from doing close to the same thing to her that Will had done? He had--and possibly still did have--feelings for Elizabeth, what would he do if Elizabeth should decide that she wanted Jack more than she wished to remain with Will?  
This seemed likely as she reflected upon how Will and Elizabeth had been the last time she had seen them together. Then what would she do? She couldn't very well go back to Will knowing that he was more in love with another woman than herself. Damn it all, she thought, I shouldn't be worrying about this now! Jack and Will were out there looking for Elizabeth, she should be worrying more about them! Sighing, she prayed that Jack would be alright, that he would return unharmed. She forgot to include Will in her prayer.  
  
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"Hullo, Mister Turner," said one of a pair of men as he passed by Jack and Will going the other way. He was carrying what looked like a wench by the rattiness of her scanty clothes, and she appeared to be in a drunken sleep. He didn't catch a glimpse of her face, but her hair looked like it might be the same shade as Elizabeth's in the light...  
He shook his head. What next, would he start thinking he saw a little of Elizabeth in any woman? Jack had stopped some steps ago, and Will turned around to look at him. He was watching the two men that had just walked by them, and motioned that Will go on. Shrugging, Will turned and headed for the beach that Elizabeth was supposed to be on, not even thinking Jack's behavior odd.  
  
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He stared after the two men, also noting the striking resemblance to Elizabeth's hair, but thinking beyond that. Elizabeth had been in Amos' care for about a week, and it was unlikely that Amos would have thought to allow her to bathe or to give her clothes other than the ones he had stolen her away in. The ratty clothes the woman was wearing looked like a tattered nightgown, and Jack knew she had been taken in the night. After motioning Will to move on, he followed the other two quietly so as not to give himself away. After he followed the two to their destination, he would go find Will and perhaps allow him to help in the rescue of his wife.  
Listening carefully to the conversation that passed between them, he discerned that the man carrying the woman--who, he had to admit, had yet to prove to be Elizabeth--was the smarter of the pair, but, on the other hand, the other man was incredibly drunk. The drunken man kept pawing at the woman, and the one carrying her kept warning him that he should stop doing that. This woman was very important and could bring them both lots of money.  
Well, if that didn't sound like it should be Elizabeth, then he didn't know what would! Following them only a little farther--into a very dingy section of town--they finally entered a run-down hovel. He waited about five more minutes to see if they would leave, and when they didn't he ran off to the beach excitedly to find Will.  
  
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When Will reached the destination Jack had told him of, he saw nothing, no one. He searched deeper into the little area, thinking she might be farther in. Still finding nothing, his anger began to grow. Never given him reason to doubt him, he said? Well now he bloody well had! Lead him on a wild goose chase, would he? And then he was even too cowardly to see him to its end!  
His anger played itself out very quickly, leaving only remorse and guilt. If it hadn't been for him, Elizabeth wouldn't have been taken. He should never have left her, should never have allowed himself to get bored. When he had said that he should have told her every day from the day he met her that he loved her, he had meant it, but he hadn't known how much he had meant it until now. These past months with her had been lost and now he may never get to make up for his stupidity.  
Tears began to roll down his face as he placed his head in his arms. Now, because of his complete idiocy, he had betrayed two women. One of whom's only mistake had been to love him so much that she gave herself over to him completely. God, what had he done? ********************************  
  
Jack found Will sitting on the beach alone, and realized that Elizabeth, indeed, was not there anymore. When he saw his shoulders shaking with what could be only sobs he decided to go brighten his day.  
"Will!" he called out. Will immediately lifted his head. What Jack didn't expect was the fury with which Will launched himself to his feet and came at him, sword drawn. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked, incredulous, as he backed away quickly.  
"How dare you!" Will shouted at him.  
"How dare I what?" he returned, still stunned.  
"How dare you lead me out here only to find that Elizabeth is not here! How dare you lead me on this wild goose chase and then not even have the courage to complete it?" Will said, his voice rising in volume.  
"What wild goose chase? This is where he told me she would be! And she likely still would be if two men hadn't picked her up and taken her home with them!" When Will's fury wavered, he continued, "I followed them, just in case. I figured if she was here then you could handle it by yourself. Since she's not here, you should come with me to where they've taken her, but quickly! They may leave any moment!" That, Jack prayed, had to work. If it didn't, then one of them would likely be dead before leaving this beach.  
It would be Will, he decided. He had to return to Arianne, after all, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to kill the boy in spite of his stupidity.  
  
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He stared dumbfounded at Jack. Elizabeth had been kidnapped yet again? God, would her terror never end? He also felt angry with Jack still, though, and decided that if Jack was leading him on yet another failed adventure that he would tie the noose around Jack's neck himself. "Let's go, then," he said.  
Off they went.  
  
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She woke but didn't open her eyes. When she realized that she wasn't in a soft bed, she knew that she had to have been kidnapped yet again. When would all of this end? All she wanted was to live in peace with the man that she loved! When she thought further on this, she realized that the man she loved remained--and would likely always remain--Will. This thought brought her into full wakefulness, and she unconsciously sat up.  
Or tried to, rather. Her wrists and ankles were bound yet again, but this time there was no gag in her mouth. "Ah, so you've finally awoken then!" came a cheerful voice to the side of her. In the dimness of the room she could barely make out his features, but she recognized his voice as one of the two who had found her on that beach. She groaned in disgust.  
She felt rather than saw his smile. "Yes, you remember me then! Good! I should warn you, however, that you should save your breath and not even bother to scream. We aren't anywhere that you're likely to be heard by anyone but the wretched beggars and rats that live in the streets."  
"You are absolutely despicable! Kidnapping me? Why would you want to do something like that?"  
"Well, you see the little hole we're livin' in here," he said, gesturing. She suddenly realized that this must be the only room, and it was very unclean. "As you're the governor's daughter, we figure you can help us a wee bit."  
"Ransom," she said. Just that. When he nodded, she groaned again and stopped trying to get up.  
  
She knew not how long they had sat in silence, but when a knock came on the door, she nearly jumped out of her skin, seeing the figure jump as well, knocking over his chair. "What the--" he started before the door was suddenly flung wide open.  
  
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Will followed Jack into the dirty little hovel--and little it was, there was hardly any room at all. As soon as he saw Elizabeth, he went to her side, ignoring Jack's scuffling about with the two men. "Elizabeth," he said softly, and then went about untying her. When she was free, she immediately threw her arms around him.  
"What took you so long?" she whispered brokenly in his ear.  
"I'm so sorry love, I'm so sorry," was all he could say.  
  
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As easy as it was to knock the two out, Jack couldn't help but be irritated that Will hadn't even bothered to help. When he turned to look at the pair, though, the irritation faded. What replaced it was fury that Will could so betray Arianne this way, but he quickly tempered that anger.  
"So, then," he started, "are we to just leave these two here, then?"  
Will, seeming to ignore him completely, asked Elizabeth if she could walk. When she stood and tried out a few steps, she judged that she could make it a little ways, but not far.  
"Right, so carrying them is entirely up to me then, sounds fun!" he grumbled to himself. Waving Will--holding Elizabeth in his arms, of course-- along, he found some rope and tied the two unconscious men together, slowly proceeding to drag them out the door and down the street. At least until they reached an area where a police officer could find them.  
At least Elizabeth was saved at last, he thought to himself. Now he could go back to Arianne.  
  
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Oh man, I really don't like how Will's coming off as such a jackass in this story, but I can see how he would be that way. I'm not writing this story, it's writing me. Blah. Ah well, soon it shall be done! Woohoo! 


	33. The Bath

Chapter 33: The Bath  
  
A week later, they all watched Amos hang. It was a very solemn occasion, though not without grim satisfaction from the three women he had tortured for so long. Will had returned to Elizabeth, and she had accepted him gladly, much to Commodore Norrington's dismay. But it did seem as though he had found someone that may suit him, a lovely young woman visiting her from London, and perhaps there would soon be a marriage for him yet.  
Amara was quite taken with the governor, to everyone's immense surprise, and now hardly spent any time at all at the Bailey house. She had been legally divorced of her insane husband, who was locked in the dungeon for lack of a better place to put the madman. As it was, he was raving about how "it's her fault, it's all her fault," though no one would listen to him. Jack was, for the first time in his life, welcomed wholeheartedly by the governor and the commodore for his help in saving Elizabeth. Arianne, well, she was fully in love with Jack. She trusted him with her life, and, more importantly, her heart. Her stomach was still in bandages, but it was healing well, so the physician told her, and instead of wearing one of the torturous, corseted dresses, she wore her pirate garb--the significance of which was lost on no one. She glanced sidelong at Jack as he stood next to her and decided that today would be the day she would finally clean that dirty black hair of his. The man was going to take a proper bath, and that was all there was to it. She might have smiled if they weren't at such a grave occasion, and was glad to leave as soon after the hanging as formalities would allow. Amara stayed behind longer with Governor Swann, while Will and Elizabeth decided that they would go back to their home. Elizabeth was still not fully recovered from her week-long ordeal with Amos, as their excuse went. And well that may be true, but only in part. Elizabeth was in fine color, and had mostly healed emotionally as well, but the real reason they left to be alone--and everyone that knew them knew it--was to "reacquaint" themselves with each other. As she and Jack walked back arm in arm--they had refused the use of a carriage--Arianne realized that she was, for once, purely happy. She and Jack would leave in less than a month, after a very important ceremony took place (perhaps two!), and, she thought wryly, after she had finally gotten rid of every speck of dirt upon Jack's body. Jack's incredibly beautiful body. He had been hesitant to touch her, for which she had been both grateful and frustrated. He refused to force her into anything that she wasn't yet ready for, but she had gotten over her love of Will surprisingly quickly. So quickly that she had to wonder whether it had been love at all. She knew now, however, that even if Jack were to abandon her, that she would love him forever. But she had reason to believe that he wouldn't leave her.  
  
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He glanced over at the satisfied smile on Arianne's face and couldn't help but smile himself. Now that all of the threats were gone from her life, she seemed far more relaxed than ever she had been before. He loved how easily she smiled now, and he was very grateful that she hadn't made him wait long to finally give in to his slightly more base desires.  
As he studied her profile more clearly, he thought he saw something other than satisfaction in her smile. It looked like she was working her mind through a specific plan. He wondered if it had anything to do with him, and found himself praying that it did.  
  
Why had he hoped her plan involved him? he wondered as he sat on a stool, bandana and decorations in his lap, wincing every few seconds as she encountered a difficult knot in his hair. He had resisted as best as he could, but her dire threats of shaving his beard made him sit obediently while she un-knotted his hair and a servant filled a bath.  
Why did she want to comb out his hair anyway?  
"I want you to be slightly more presentable, love," she said, seeming to read his mind. "And I would like to do this at least once a week."  
"You'd like to WHAT?!" he exclaimed in shock. Why would she want to put him through this torture once a week?!  
"It won't be so bad if it's done more often, Jack. I would hazard a guess that you haven't done a blasted thing to your hair in the past six years."  
He had to agree with her logic, though he still wished she wasn't hurting him so much. Sighing, he resigned himself to being a clean pirate, though he suspected it would wreak havoc upon his reputation. It was a small sacrifice to make for a man that would give up even his pirating career for her.  
  
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After what seemed to take hours, she finally finished brushing out his hair, which promptly stood out about his head with static electricity. She stifled a smile as he exclaimed in indignation at his reflection.  
"Get in the bath, love, it will be better after." When he looked at her doubtfully, she did laugh. "I promise it will be better! I'll even braid your hair afterwards, so you don't look so much like a gentleman. I want my pirate lover to look like what he really is."  
"Ah, but I'm more than your lover," he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead.  
"I know," she whispered softly, reveling in the warm feel of him against her, in the feeling of rightness she felt whenever she was with him. She pushed him away, however, knowing that if the embrace went on much longer she might lose all will to give him a bath.  
"Disrobe, you scalawag!" she said to him with a smile. He obeyed willingly, and she admired his backside until he stepped into and sat down in the large bath tub.  
  
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He sighed in pleasure as the very warm water caressed his skin. Much as he may pretend otherwise, he loved the feel of being submerged in such lovely hot water. Even more, he loved the feeling of the woman he loved washing him in said hot water. He smiled, very satisfied, and she splashed his face before continuing to scrub.  
Eventually, his skin began to get raw with the force of her scrubbing. He exclaimed that she was trying to rub the skin right off of him, but she just scrubbed harder at what appeared to be a particularly difficult patch of dirt on his skin. When she was finished with his body, she dunked his head unceremoniously under the water, giving him no warning whatsoever.  
When he came up spluttering, she attacked his head with yet more soap, and he simply gave in to her not-so-gentle ministrations. She washed his hair a good five more times before she was satisfied that it was clean, and his beard as well. His eyes were starting to smart with the soapy water. "Blast it, woman, aren't you done yet?!" he asked in exasperation.  
"Almost," she said with a wicked grin. She held up the rag with yet more soap on it, and then assaulted his face.  
  
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She turned away as he toweled himself off, the smile evident on her face. When she turned back, it was wrapped around his waist and he was glaring at her. "Where are my clothes, love?" he asked indignantly.  
"They're being burned, darling." When a murderous look came over his face, she quickly amended that with, "But don't worry! I've already arranged for a whole new set for you. Maybe in another ten years I'll by you another one," she finished with a smile. When he smiled in return, she relaxed and held up the brush once more. He groaned, but didn't even try to fight it this time, sitting down obediently.  
She went at his hair again, finding it considerably easier to brush out this time, though he still flinched every time she ran into a knot.  
  
Later, when she was at last finished brushing and carefully braiding his hair and beard (including his old decorations, of course, but adding a few new ones of her own), she stood back and examined her work. Smiling in satisfaction, she stood Jack up and let him look at himself in the mirror.  
After he was finished examining himself, he promptly turned around and kissed her on the mouth. "Thank you, love," he whispered, his mouth still hovering close to hers.  
"You're so very welcome," she whispered back, and pulled him close to her for a deeper kiss.  
"Perhaps now we can do something that will be more enjoyable for us both," he said, breaking the kiss and leaving her breathless. He hoisted her in his arms, the towel still wrapped tightly around his waist, and carried her into her old bedroom, to take her gently and lovingly into absolute bliss once more.  
  
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I enjoyed writing this chapter. I know that if Jack and I were to get together the first thing I would have to do would be to give him a bath and then braid his hair. Heh. But then, I have a problem with dirt, so that's just me! Also, I have no idea why the first section wouldn't do all the different paragraphs, but I'm damned annoyed with that! Grr! (FYI, no, it's not finished yet, but it's damn close! Love you all!) 


	34. Our First Memory

Chapter 34: Our First Memory  
  
She stood before a full-length mirror, examining herself from every angle to make sure everything was absolutely perfect. These last two weeks had seemed to fly by, and yet they had seemed as if they would never end. Seamstresses had been in and out for the past week until she finally got tired of their fussing and arguing and when the barest minimum of what she needed was complete, she told them to go away. Now she examined the beautiful gown and smiled. This was going to be a wonderful day.  
  
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Jack paced on the dock next to his ship, dressed and ready for the occasion. The clothes were very well-made, and he much appreciated that Arianne had thought to do something so nice for him. She had even bought him a new hat. He smiled and looked at it again. It was a big hat, with a long feather that had been dyed red to match the new scarf he had tied about his head.  
Still smiling, now with utter excitement, he restrained himself from doing a dance of joy. He couldn't believe that his fondest wish was going to come true today!  
  
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"Arianne?" called Amara, "It's time for us to get into the carriage and leave, darling!"  
She quickly tied off the end of her french braid and hurried down the stairs with unseemly haste, though she was very careful not to cause any damage to her dress. When she finally reached her mother, cheeks tinged red with excitement, Amara smiled fondly at her daughter.  
"You look stunning, Arianne, and I'm so very happy that you are marrying for love." Amara kissed her daughter lightly on the cheek, and then hurried her out the door to the waiting carriage.  
  
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Elizabeth wasn't quite as happy as everyone else seemed to be that morning. She was sick--had been for the past few days--and feared that she was finally going to be slowed down by the gift God gave to women. Will suspected as well, and he was absolutely overjoyed that he might be a father. Even if it was Amos' child? Came the thought unbidden, but she shook it away, determined to be excited about the wedding of Jack Sparrow and Arianne the Golden Eagle, as she was now called.  
No one quite knew how that name had come about, but somehow it seemed appropriate. Odd how a cheeky little bird was going to marry a bird of prey. Elizabeth found herself wondering if Jack's status was going to come in second to Arianne's.  
Her reflection was interrupted when Will came in, fully dressed for the wedding. "Are you still sick, love?" he asked her with some concern. When she shook her head, he helped her out of her chair and twirled her around for a few dance steps until she laughingly told him that he was likely to make her sick if he kept spinning her around like this.  
He immediately stopped and gravely inquired as to whether she was going to get dressed or attend the wedding nude. He broke out into a smile, then, saying it mattered not either way to him, though he feared he would have to duel several men to defend her honor. She laughed and pushed him out of the room before she proceeded to get dressed, asking that the corset not be pulled as tight today.  
The maids smiled knowingly and complied.  
  
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As people started gathering at the end of the dock (the dock itself was to be the aisle), Jack grew very impatient. What if she didn't come? he asked himself, now worrying. His fortune had been entirely too good of late, and it would be just about right if the wedding he so dearly wished for didn't happen.  
When the priest finally arrived, he gave Jack a look of absolute disgust, making him smile at a memory of impersonating a member of the clergy. That had been quite fun. He vaguely missed those days, but now, now perhaps it was time to move on to something besides pirating. His ship, of course, he would keep, he just wouldn't use it for pirating activities so much anymore. He and his crew (not to mention the former crew of the Black Pearl under Barbossa) had hoarded enough plunder to live richly for the rest of their days.  
Perhaps they would only do occasional pirating. He indulged himself in a fantasy of traveling all over the world, his beautiful eagle by his side.  
  
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The priest stared at Jack with disgust still written all over his face, but when he saw Jack smiling tenderly, a little of the ice melted away. He was getting married, after all, and perhaps his view of the pirate had been wrong all along. For he truly did love Arianne.  
  
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When the carriage finally arrived, Jack found himself holding his breath and consciously let it out. As his soon-to-be wife stepped out of the carriage, all the air that was in him fled, and seemed to have no desire to return.  
She was beautiful, more than beautiful. Her golden hair was pulled back into a french braid, the sun catching and reflecting off of it, making her seem to have a halo. Her dress was not what was "in fashion" with the nobility, but no one cared once they laid eyes upon her. It was a glorious gown dyed a blue deeper and more vibrant than any sapphire, her shoulders were bare and the sleeves were long with dagged ends that would cover her hands were it not for the calla lilies she held. Her bodice was skin-tight, but she did not wear a corset. Never again would she be bound by the torture device. The skirt wasn't the fashionable full skirt with several petticoats that all the women wore, it seemed to flow from her hips to her feet, with a short train following.  
As she walked down the "aisle," the skirt flowed like water about her legs, and Jack struggled to regain control of his lungs. He couldn't believe how incredibly gorgeous she was, nor could he believe that she was walking towards him with love radiating from her very being.  
Yes, he would make every sacrifice for her and it would not seem a sacrifice as much as the least he could do to make her happy.  
  
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She walked towards him, trembling slightly with excitement and nervousness. He wore the new clothes she had arranged for him, and he looked absolutely dashing in them. His hair was freshly braided and decorated, and he wore the hat she had given him as well. Her smile grew slightly wider when she remembered his gleeful reaction to the new hat.  
The walk down the aisle seemed to take ages, but when she was finally by his side, all nervousness disappeared. This rang true in her soul.  
"Dearly beloved..." the priest began.  
  
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Will watched Arianne walk towards Jack and knew then how he had fallen for her. She was so beautiful, and her very personality seemed to glow through her skin, making her absolutely radiant. He would be shocked indeed if many men did not fall in love with her this day. He looked down at Elizabeth and squeezed her hand lightly. She looked up at him and smiled, and he knew that she did not doubt his now unwavering love for her.  
  
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"I swear to love you, Arianne, unconditionally and eternally. I swear that I will never stray from you, that I will be with you always, as you so richly deserve," Jack vowed, his face very solemn as he slid the plain but beautiful silver band on her heart finger. He meant this with the whole of his being.  
"I swear to love you, Jack, unconditionally and eternally," she began, returning the vows. "I swear that I will never stray from you, that I will be with you always, even unto death." She slid a band matching her own onto his finger.  
The priest stared at them with growing happiness. This was a union that would withstand all trials of time. Never yet had he had the privilege to witness such a union, and that he was able to do so before he passed into his Lord's hands was a great gift.  
"I now pronounce you man and wife," he said, almost too softly to be heard, tears rimming his eyes. "You may kiss the bride."  
  
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"Aww, but Mama! That can't be all!"  
"It isn't all, child, but it is all you are going to hear this night," she replied to her daughter.  
"But I want to know what happened after that!" Reanna pleaded, sitting up in her bed with the covers tangled around her legs.  
"Go to sleep now, love, and I may tell you another one tomorrow night," Arianne said, smiling.  
"Alright, Mama, good night. I love you." The little girl laid down, then, allowing herself to be tucked in, and closed her eyes, almost immediately asleep.  
"I love you too, little Rea," she said softly, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead.  
  
"Wonderful story you told there, love," Jack said, folding her in his arms when she carefully closed the door to Reanna's room.  
She smiled up at her wonderful husband and kissed him lightly on the lips. "It's our first memory, Jack, and it means very much to me."  
"Ah, but you're wrong there," he replied mischievously, tickling her neck with his beard. "Have you so soon forgotten how we met in the first place?"  
"No," she replied, laughing softly. "But I didn't think that a very appropriate story to tell our eight-year-old daughter, either."  
He smiled gently down at her. The years hadn't aged him a bit, nor had she seemed to change either. Maybe tomorrow night she would tell Reanna of how she and Jack had found the Fountain of Youth...  
  
************************************************************************ *Sniffle* I so enjoyed writing this chapter, though it means that this story has come to a close. I didn't think I would be so emotional about this chapter, but it really tugged at me and now I'm almost crying, so I'll bring this last note to a close. Thank you all so much for reading this, your support has meant so very much to me, and I could not have finished this without you all! Thank you!  
  
And, in regard to the 166th review, thank you so much for your insulting review. I'm going to answer your questions now: YES, I have seen the movie, I liked it very much, and if you had even bothered to read the rest of this story you would find some very interesting things happen. And I believe you meant to say "WILL and Elizabeth are madly in love," rather than "Jack and Elizabeth are madly in love," as you had said shortly before that Jack and Ana Maria are destined to be together. This is a FAN FICTION, which means that you can write things DIFFERENTLY if you so choose, and you shouldn't bitch people out just because they didn't write it your way.  
  
And, as to the "cocksucker" reference...can't you come up with a more creative way to insult me than that? Honestly, it gets old hearing the same old things over and over again. 


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